The Trial by Franz Kafka as an Autobiography
Robert Donlan
Mrs. Fletcher
AP Literature
March 3, 2001
The Trial by Franz Kafka as an Autobiography
Franz Kafka was a very intelligent writer of his times. Kafka was born in Austro-Czechoslovakia. He was mainly a writer of short stories, and complex diaries, yet he did publish a small number of novels. The works of Kafka have been interpreted as allegorical, autobiographical, psychoanalytical, Marxist, religious, existentialist, expressional, and naturalist. His novels have a wide variety of interpretations. Of his novels, The Trial is one of the more complex in aspects of literature (Bryfonski and Hall 288). The Trial was written with the intention of an autobiography for Kafka. The Trial delves into the mind of the victim, K., and also into many things not comprehended by Kafka himself. He wrote this book in order to better convey his questions that he pondered in his head, in search of an answer that was no where to be found, but perhaps in the workings of his fiction novels. The main character of The Trial is Joseph K. Yet through out the book he is referred to as simply K.. There is no coincidence that Kafka created the character K. as the protagonist of The Trial. The significance was that Kafka was trying to represent himself through the character by giving a close enough name to his without merely stating his own name in the place of the protagonist of the novel. Kafka did this with another one of his characters, and related them to his life in a significant way through the book. For instance Kafka wrote this book at the time where he was engaged to his fiancé Felice Bauer. Another other character in the book, by the name of Fraulein Burstner, is a neighbor of K.. K. has a love for Fraulein Burstner. In Kafka 's manuscripts, and rough drafts for The Trial he refers to Fraulein Burstner as simply F.B., which happens to be the same initials that his future wife had (Brod 170). K. loses touch with Fraulein Burstner early in
Mrs. Fletcher
AP Literature
March 3, 2001
The Trial by Franz Kafka as an Autobiography
Franz Kafka was a very intelligent writer of his times. Kafka was born in Austro-Czechoslovakia. He was mainly a writer of short stories, and complex diaries, yet he did publish a small number of novels. The works of Kafka have been interpreted as allegorical, autobiographical, psychoanalytical, Marxist, religious, existentialist, expressional, and naturalist. His novels have a wide variety of interpretations. Of his novels, The Trial is one of the more complex in aspects of literature (Bryfonski and Hall 288). The Trial was written with the intention of an autobiography for Kafka. The Trial delves into the mind of the victim, K., and also into many things not comprehended by Kafka himself. He wrote this book in order to better convey his questions that he pondered in his head, in search of an answer that was no where to be found, but perhaps in the workings of his fiction novels. The main character of The Trial is Joseph K. Yet through out the book he is referred to as simply K.. There is no coincidence that Kafka created the character K. as the protagonist of The Trial. The significance was that Kafka was trying to represent himself through the character by giving a close enough name to his without merely stating his own name in the place of the protagonist of the novel. Kafka did this with another one of his characters, and related them to his life in a significant way through the book. For instance Kafka wrote this book at the time where he was engaged to his fiancé Felice Bauer. Another other character in the book, by the name of Fraulein Burstner, is a neighbor of K.. K. has a love for Fraulein Burstner. In Kafka 's manuscripts, and rough drafts for The Trial he refers to Fraulein Burstner as simply F.B., which happens to be the same initials that his future wife had (Brod 170). K. loses touch with Fraulein Burstner early in
Cited: Heller, Erich. Franz Kafka. New York: The Viking Press, 1974. Kafka, Franz. The Trial. New York: Schocken Books, 1984 Muir, David Research Company, 1982.