44 pages • 1 hour read
Franz KafkaThe Trial
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1925A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Josef K.
Josef K. is the protagonist of the novel. He is a 30-year-old man of the professional class, holding a respected position as the chief financial officer of a large bank. Franz Kafka portrays him as a kind of “everyman” whose experiences of alienation and powerlessness make him a relatable vehicle by which to explore the complexities of modern society.
K. comes across as ambitious and self-assured, especially at the beginning of the novel, before the opaque operations of the court leave him increasingly helpless and baffled. He can also be conceited, and he is intolerant of those whom he regards as his inferiors, an intolerance apparent, for instance, in the way he thinks of officials of the lower court, such as the warders who arrest him at the beginning of the novel. K.’s initial ambivalence toward his trial soon grows into obsession, and this change is reflected in his character: The meticulous and hardworking K. of the beginning of the novel becomes scattered and unfocused as he tries to make sense of his senseless situation. K. is also heavily reliant on women, for whom he has a weakness. K. has a relationship with a waitress named Elsa (mentioned several times throughout the novel), and over the course of the story develops further relationships with other young women (Fräulein Bürstner, the usher’s wife, and Leni). From each of these women, K. seeks some sort of assistance, even thinking himself entitled to this assistance. K.’s relationships with women sometimes hurt his case and often distract him from it.
Frau Grubach
Frau Grubach is K.’s landlady at the boardinghouse where he lives. She is portrayed as gentle, conservative, and simple. Like many of the women of the novel, she seems to strongly favor K., telling him that he is her favorite boarder. When K. speaks to her about his trial, she tells him not to take the situation too seriously. Frau Grubach is obsessed with running a respectable establishment and in doing so sometimes pries too much into the personal lives of her boarders.
Fräulein Bürstner
Fräulein Bürstner is a young female typist who lives in Frau Grubach’s boardinghouse, having just rented the room next to K.’s when the novel begins. It is in Fräulein Bürstner’s room that K. is initially questioned by the inspector. According to Frau Grubach, Fräulein Bürstner often stays out late and is seen in town with many different men (Frau Grubach of course disapproves of this behavior). When K. apologizes that her room was used without her permission on his account, he ends up kissing her before she sends him away. Fräulein Bürstner does not appear again in the novel, though K.’s continuing relationship with her is mentioned on a few later occasions.
Titorelli
Titorelli is a painter who is primarily employed in painting portraits for officials of the lower court (a position he claims to have inherited from his father). Through his job Titorelli has become extremely familiar with the inner workings of the court, and he shares much of this information with K. Titorelli is portrayed as talkative, friendly, and slightly pompous (referring to his small and slovenly attic apartment as his “atelier”). He offers to help K., explaining the different kinds of acquittals and giving him as much information as he can about the structure and workings of the court.
Uncle Karl
Uncle Karl is K.’s talkative and domineering uncle. Though he lives primarily in the country, he comes to visit K. in the city when he hears about his case. Uncle K. exhibits a no-nonsense attitude and chides K. for not paying enough attention to his case. It is Uncle K. who introduces K. to the lawyer Herr Huld, who was a friend of his in school.
Leni
Leni is the young nurse of Herr Huld. When K. first visits Huld, she is powerfully drawn to him, and the two soon become lovers. She has a physical defect in which the middle and index finger of her right hand are webbed. Leni’s attraction to K. and her desire to help him seem to go beyond reason, and her real character and motivations remain obscure. According to Huld, Leni has a strong attraction to defendants—a “peculiarity” that, in Huld’s view, is not really all that peculiar (184). Like many of the characters, Leni thus seems deeply entwined with the omnipresent court, though the exact nature of her relationship with the court is not clear.
Herr Huld
Herr Huld is an elderly and ailing lawyer who agrees to help K. in his trial as a favor to K.’s uncle. He is a loquacious and pompous character, claiming to have extensive connections and influence within the court. K. hopes that Huld can help him understand the charges against him and navigate the trial, but Huld’s advice tends to be vague and unhelpful. K. becomes convinced that Huld is doing little for his case and is more concerned with maintaining his connections than in helping him, and ultimately dismisses him. But Huld is not always so benign. At times he can also be vengeful and cruel, as demonstrated by his treatment of another client of his, the merchant Rudi Block.
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By Franz Kafka
