Justice On Trial in Kafka's The Trial
There is no such thing as justice - in or out of court. Clarence Darrow i
Most often critically interpreted as a search for Divine justice, Kafka's The Trial, a fragmented and unfinished novel, appears to leave us with the same impression as the words above of Clarence Darrow. In other words, there is no justice. This assessment of Divine justice by Kafka works on two levels. On one level, he is illustrating the helpless nature of the individual when in conflict against an established bureaucracy. On another level, he is illustrating the existential dilemma of man in the face of a godless, indifferent, and often hostile universe. A search for justice by Josef K. finds no justice in
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as he attempts to maneuver the bureaucratic system. In vain, much as many people try to find meaning and justice out of court, Josef K.'s efforts to discover why he is accused and must suffer are in vain. Yet, his character and his sins are conventional, and he has no bold or threatening ambitions. All he can do is ask questions, but he receives no answers that would clarify the bureaucratic system into which he has been thrust. Just like existential awareness undermines the entire rational structure of Divine justice, so, too, the alternative hypotheses, the multiple explanations, the different interpretations, and the uncertainty Josef K. experiences, serve to undermine the whole rational structure of the justice system. Josef K. comes to understand the socially constructed, arbitrary, and absurd nature of the justice system, and, justice itself "The truth allegedly resides above the realms of justice and injustice."iii This literary analysis will focus on how Josef K.'s experiences in The Trial demonstrate not only the corrupt justice system of the era but also the absurd and futile attempt to seek an arbitrary concept like justice in an existential realm.
KAFKA WORLDVIEW OF JUSTICE IN THE TRIAL
The Trial has an immediate ability to engage the emotions of the reader because the protagonist, Josef K., is an everyman. Not especially ambitious, Josef K. is an ordinary man, a successful bank clerk whose everyday
In the court case of Marbury v Madison from 1803, it is apparent that justice does not prevail. This case was brought to court because William Marbury was denied his rightful spot to a justice of the peace position in the District of Colombia. This spot and commissions were signed by the authority figure, President Adams and sealed by the acting Secretary of State at the time, John Marshall. Although both of these actions were taken, the signatures were not delivered before the expiration of Adams’s term as president.
In “No Crueler Tyrannies”, Dorothy Rabinowitz rightly criticizes the lawyers taking part in the prosecution; the nature of these criticisms includes the prosecution’s ultimatum stance on seeking finality over justice, their subjective reactions to the Moral Panic of the time, and the mere lack of physical evidence used in trial.
The legal elements of this book, is the lack of justice for the defendants, lack of resources in the courtroom, and the bias that the people within the courtroom had. This related to our law and society class because society looks
There are always two sides to an argument, but different people have different opinions on which side is right and wrong; as a result, we can compare a debate or argument as of a coin, due to the fact that it has two sides. When it comes to the topic of judicial system in America, most of us will readily agree that it needs to be reformed. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of who will step forward and make changes to the court system. Whereas some are convinced that no one is going to do anything about it, others maintain that the government will be the savior by making the changes. In the introduction of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice And Redemption, by Bryan Stevenson -an American lawyer, social justice activist, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, and a clinical professor at New York University School of Law- Stevenson emphasizes that people are not being treated fairly in the judicial system of America. The book was written to give readers a close up look on mass incarceration and extreme punishment given in America. Convincing the readers is not easy, except if the author uses strategic techniques such as ethos, pathos, and logos. It is even more tough if the topic is sensitive and debatable as this one. Stevenson used these three techniques in a variety of different ways to convince the readers.
A broken; crooked Justice System is a sad but unforgotten tale of our nation. “Just Mercy” tells the everyday motif of an innocent person wrongfully convicted to death until new DNA evidence has been brought up. Even the states that still sentence people to capital punishment have botched people’s lives and cleared them of all charges years after their execution. “Just Mercy,” personalizes the struggle and hardship minorities face every day while dealing with injustice in the story of one lawyer Bryan Stevenson.
Many important topics and integral information that is an essential part in the criminal justice system have been introduced in the play “12 Angry Men”. Some examples of this would be crime and justice including the laws, criminal behavior, victimization, and the criminal justice system in itself. These issues are everyday situations but many people have been oblivious to the problem. The twelve jurors have an assignment where they will have to decide whether or not the young man on trial is guilty of murdering his father or is innocent beyond a reasonable doubt. All twelve men are frustrated and lack patience which lead them to be contumacious and unfocused. Their distraction led to many key facts getting misemployed and emotions start to cross making it hard for the jurors to construct a resolution. They have been oblivious to the effect that it would have on the community itself. On the information given up to this point this process essay will articulate the unenlightenment and egomaniacal principles of the twelve men in the short story and movie "Twelve Angry Men" written by Reginald Rose and directed by Sidney Lumet. Both Lumet and Rose showed their point of views of the criminal justice system in the play and the movie. Although the director's view on the justice system demonstrated the rights that everyone had, it also revealed his thoughts on how the justice system is corrupt, ineffective and unjust because all these aspects have shown the major differences in the morality of the twelve individuals and the problem at hand in the movie and play “12 Angry Men”.
Today’s society is run by and thrives off capitalism, ruled by our government. Many things are kept surreptitious from us. The government feeds us lies to silence us and to force us conform to society’s customs, this is evident in the novel ‘The Trial.’ It depicts the way in which society is ruled by an autocratic hierarchy, which is kept secret from the working class. This is a metaphor for the Marxist ideology of the bourgeoisie exploiting the proletariat in a capitalist society. ‘The Trial’ by Franz Kafka was published in 1945 and follows the injustice of the main character Josef, who is arrested by two wardens, and prosecuted on unnamed charges. "Without having done anything wrong he was arrested one fine morning." The nature of his crime is kept confined from him and the reader. Throughout the novel, Josef struggles ineffectively against an oppressive and autocratic court system, only to be abruptly executed, at the end of the novel. This essay will be exploring Josef’s character and the ways in which ‘The Trial’ is written in a Marxist perspective in depth, analysing how Josef struggles against the oppressive court system, adamant not to compromise his beliefs to conform to and suit society’s norms.
Justice is a very important element in today’s society as well as in the past. However, injustice is something that is becoming more and more common in several countries around the world. Yet, a lack of justice often resolves by an unfair or undeserved outcome. This theme is shown through Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, William Shakespeares’s The Merchant of Venice and Bob Dylan’s poem Blowin’
The United States of America, is well known for its many aspects. Perhaps for the ways its governed, its power, and most importantly its laws. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights are the most important documents (respectively) and the laws that America follows. No other country in the world is like America, those three unique documents are what sets America apart from any other. In the novel The Trial, by Franz Kafka, it shows how important those three documents are for an individual, and in this case how important they can be in a trial. This novel is based around Josef K. who is accused of something and is eventually sent to trial, the best document to show how important law’s can be, based on this novel is the Bill of Rights. If one applies the Bill of Rights to this novel, we could see how important and fair they are to an individual.
Ed Concannon is a distinguished and deceitful lawyer defending the hospital and doctors Towler and Marks. There would be no one to stand in his way of another victory; he pays off witnesses and hired Laura Fischer, who sought out Frank romantically to get insight into his strategies. Laura fell hard for Frank and her deceitful actions became more than she could handle. She let Ed Concannon know and he said to her:
The opening establishes and embodies the world of the justice system, “the man’s world”, accompanied by its seriousness, organisation and harshness in its outlook on reality, the depiction of a typical arrest, identification and trial of a convicted criminal. However, this “world”, according to Wood is threatened, stating that it is somewhat disrupted by the protagonist’s “frivolousness, selfishness, and triviality” (272).
Modernists built upon the shambles of World War I by searching for a philosophy that takes into account the rampant destruction of man’s body and spirit. The end result was a patchwork of disconnection and incongruities. Modernists admit that they do not know – though they sought a higher meaning to life, most, if not all, failed in the attempt (Lewis 38). Instead, they were left, as Albert Camus asserted, with an “odd state of soul . . . in which the chain of daily gestures is broken, in which the heart vainly seeks the link that will connect it again" (Rhein 12). Like many Modernist writers, Franz Kafka searches for the meaning of life in a world where God and religion are put
In the essay "In search of Heimate: A Note on Franz Kafka's Concept of Law", the writer Reza Banakar reviews Kafka's intrepretation of the legal system within his writings. Banakar concocts a passionate arguement for the fact that in the story of The Trial, law is not only a concept but an experience that leaves a indiviual feeling trapped. He also gives a well thought out testimony to support the claim that The Trial bridges the concept of the human condition and the legal system together. Even though the piece is unorganized and uses legal jargon that college students are unfamiliar with, the essay should be included in the new critical edition of Kafka's work due to the fact that it gives insight of novel from a person with a higher understanding of the law.
Reading The Trial can be a confusing and frustrating task but that is because it is supposed to be. Stories usually start out with an introduction and it slowly introduces you to characters, setting, and then the conflict. This was what was expected in the very beginning of opening Kafka because of the unawareness of how unconventional and thought provoking this author proved to be. This is an author that takes what you know from the world and twists it into dark dreams that emphasize truths behind our reality. He brings out what it is that we are too afraid to confront or to question. He brings into existence the thoughts that bring fear and anxiety into many lives. From the very beginning, we are thrown into a world of confusion with no explanations and we are left to question everything. Strange people including police declare K.’s arrest while he is in bed. However, they cannot tell K. what he is being arrested for. They cannot tell him who asked for his arrest or who ordered and processed it. All they can say is that he is under investigation. Of course, K. like anybody, thought it was a prank and laughed it off in the beginning, but soon after realized how serious his case was. While trying to get answers to all his questions, he was buried under more absurdities and complex meaningless dead ends. He could not find a logical way out and the search for answers consumed his life. In the end, we are even more baffled when K. gets killed for choosing to step away from the
When a person commits a crime, our modern government has a system in place in order for that person to be punished in a way that can be fair and just. This type of government is usually run by people who believe in a democratic system, where the decisions are made through a vote by the people in order to make sure the decisions made are fair and just to an extent. In the book, The Trial by Franz Kafka, the main character Josef K. is accused of committing a crime and put on trial by the state. Throughout the book, Josef K. was never told the crime he committed or what charges are being brought against him. This book was written in the 19th century, outside the United States, and has yet to be finished by the author do to the sorry fact that he died before finishing the book. In the following paragraphs I will use Fletchers, Basic Concepts of Criminal Law, to show that Josef K.’s trial was conducted in a substantive manner.