The Trial

Josef K. wakes on his thirtieth birthday to find two warders in his room who announce his arrest. He cannot learn the charge. He is taken to another room to speak with an Inspector. He is told he may continue his normal life.

K. receives a vague summons to appear at a Sunday hearing in a cramped attic courtroom. He gives a confident speech attacking the corruption of the entire judicial system. The audience applauds — then he realizes they all belong to the court.

K. returns the following Sunday and finds only a washerwoman and a law student. He tours the suffocating upper offices of the court and has to be led out before he collapses.

K. attempts to apologize to Fräulein Bürstner via her friend. He then discovers the two warders from his arrest being flogged in a storeroom at the bank — punishment for K.'s complaints about them. He cannot stop the flogging.

K.'s uncle arrives from the country, alarmed. He introduces K. to Huld, a prominent invalid lawyer with court connections. Huld's housekeeper Leni seduces K. during a crucial meeting. Huld promises influence but delivers only talk.

K. meets Block, a merchant who has been a defendant for five years, employs five lesser lawyers in addition to Huld, and is completely broken. Huld demonstrates his power over Block to intimidate K.

K. visits Titorelli, the court's official painter, in a tiny suffocating room surrounded by girls who want to watch. Titorelli explains the three possible outcomes of a case: definite acquittal (theoretical), ostensible acquittal (temporary), and indefinite postponement.

K. resolves to dismiss Huld and take his case into his own hands. He arrives to dismiss Huld and encounters Block, witnessing his complete degradation. K. reflects on taking personal charge of his defense.

A bank client requires a tour of the cathedral. K. arrives alone and finds a prison chaplain waiting for him by name. The chaplain tells K. the parable of the man who waits his whole life before the Gate of the Law. K. and the chaplain debate its meaning at length.

On the eve of K.'s thirty-first birthday, two men in frock coats arrive. They lead him to a quarry outside the city. They lay him on the ground and stab him. His last words: 'Like a dog!'