28.1.2009
(Continued from part
1.)
3) Awareness of others. The way it is written, it can easily seem
that there are no real persons in The Trial, apart from Josef
K. himself. All the other characters, beginning from the two guards Franz
and Willem (in the opening chapter) and ending with the two executioners
(in the final chapter), are just moving into and passing out of view with the
circumstances of K.'s life; we only get a glimpse at them when he does;
and we never see them differently than from his dim point of view.
Repeatedly, Kafka shows us expressly how limited K.'s awareness of others
is. For instance, in a brief episode in the second chapter, K. encounters
a young man who introduces himself, at K.'s inquiry, as the son of the
caretaker ('Sohn des Hausmeisters'). K. has to move his face close to him
because of the bad lighting conditions. When walking on, he turns around
once more, impulsively as it seems, presumably to get another look (31).
This action mirrors an impulse K. has in the first chapter, when driving
away in the car from the scene of his arrest. Telling himself that he
didn't notice the officers leaving, he resolves to be more attentive next
time - but then, inconsequentially, turns around to check if he can see
them (an attempt that he abandons as quickly as he made it, and resultless
with that, 28-29). Until he is prompted by the supervisor of the guards, he
doesn't notice that some of the people on the scene of his arrest are his
co-workers (27). In a similar way, K. feels the need to look closer at his
executioners only when the three of them are already on their way, although
he has met them (and even formed a strong opinion about them) earlier at his
home (306-307).
These episodes show an extensive lack of perceptiveness, and an
extraordinary lack of interest in, and awareness of, other people. At the
same time K. doesn't hesitate to judge them by what little impression he
can have of them - and his judgments are typically condescending, rarely
sympathetic (and if so, then in a patronizing manner).
4) Two instances of good advice. Twice during the first chapter,
Josef K. receives good advice regarding his own behavior. The guard Willem
suggests that he focuses his mind on the upcoming complications in his life,
and resists distraction from useless thoughts (15). K. promptly does
precisely the opposite: he returns to his room and occupies himself with
pointless musings about the far-fetched possibility of himself committing
suicide and the question whether the guards had considered this scenario
and why they might not have taken precautions. Apart from his ersatz
breakfast consisting of a fine apple and a couple of drinks, that seems to
be the only thing looking relevant to him. Later on, the supervisor of the
guards recommends that K. talked less and more carefully: what he had
uttered during the conversation was mostly redundant and also not always to
his advantage (22). Again, K. doesn't pay any heed to the advice (and for
the rest of the novel, he just continues not giving too much thought to what
he is saying).
This lack of prudence and the inability to receive feedback and
incorporate it into his own actions is typical. Of course, nobody necessarily
has to follow each bit of advice, and surely one doesn't normally take advice
from anybody. But a moment's reflection should have shown K., in both cases,
that the recommendations made sense. They might have been trivial, and even
possibly not really been well-meant, but that wouldn't necessarily make them
wrong.
(To be continued.)
