Franz Kafka’s The Trial portrays the trial of a man accused of a crime he does not believe he committed by a court reliant on influence to the exclusion of evidence. This man, Josef K., becomes inextricably entangled in trying to influence the verdict of his trial through both legitimate and illegitimate channels. Josef K.’s entire experience seems, at times, like a giant nightmare--literally. The tale seems dreamlike because of the narration’s irrelevant and inappropriate physical details, claustrophobic and conspiratorial focus on K., and illogical progressions.
