The Trial

Within the satirical novel, K. realizes the faults of the judicial system within his government. He is accused of a crime about which he does not have any knowledge. Kafka tries to enlighten the people of the disadvantages of a totalitarian government under which he lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In one scene, K. finds the two policemen, who arrested him, in a closet with a whip-man. He will punish them with his cane because they ate K.'s food and performed other unusual activities during K.'s arrest. This is a direct jibe on the police officers and the people in charge. At one point, Willem states, "Nothing would to us otherwise [if K. had not complained], not even if they'd found out what we'd done (61)." This quote establishes three components of the corrupt judicial system. Firstly, the officers would not have been punished for their procedural deviation. Secondly, the whip-man beats them for a simple infraction of eating food. Thirdly, the lower officers always do the jobs of the higher officials. They never take action so far in the book. They always have their cronies working for them. These three components are found within the present judicial system.