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Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was left unfinished at his death, and was never intended to be published. Its manuscript was rescued by his friend Max Brod. It was first published in German in 1925 as Der Process [sic].
The Trial has been filmed by the director Orson Welles, with Anthony Perkins (as Josef K) and Romy Schneider. A more recent remake featured Kyle MacLachlan in the same role.
On the morning of his thirtieth birthday, a junior bank manager, Josef K, who lives in lodgings, is unexpectedly arrested by two unidentified agents for an unspecified crime. The agents do not name the authority for which they are acting. He is not taken away, but left at home to await instructions from the Interrogation Commission. That evening K misses his regular visit to his hooker Elsa.
Frau Grubach, his landlady, tries to console Josef but unintentionally offends him by speculating that perhaps the arrest was related to an illicit relationship with Fräulein Bürstner, the tenant next door to Josef K. Josef visits the Fräulein to discuss his plight, but ends up kissing her, belatedly fulfilling the landlady's speculation. This is an early indication that Josef K is no longer in control of his own fate.
He is instructed to appear at a local court, but the time of the trial is not specified. This causes him to waste his time waiting to be called. When he is finally called, he is told, confusingly, that he is late. During the interrogation he is asked a series of irrelevant and apparently pointless questions, and it seems that only the onlookers in the gallery understand what is happening.
Josef K tries to visit the Examining Magistrate, but finds only the Law-Court Attendant's wife. Looking at the Magistrate's books, he finds that they are not law books, but pornography. The woman tries to seduce him. As Josef resolves to succumb to the woman as an act of defiance against the Court, a law student appears and, after an argument with Josef, carries the woman off in his arms.
Josef accidentally wanders into the court offices, where the Attendant complains about his wife's wantonness. There are many other defendants waiting hopelessly for information about their cases. Josef realises he is lost, perhaps legally as well as geographically, and almost faints. To his shame, he has to be carried out of the court by two officials.
Josef returns home to find Fräulein Montag, a lodger from another room, moving in with Fräulein Bürstner. He suspects that this is to prevent him from pursuing his affair with the latter woman. Yet another lodger, Captain Lanz, appears to be in league with Montag.
Later, in a store room at his own bank, Josef K discovers the two agents who arrested him being beaten by a superior. This surreal event appears to have been staged just to frighten him.
Josef K is visited by his influential uncle, who by coincidence is a friend of the Clerk of the Court. The uncle is, or appears to be, distressed by Josef's predicament and is at first sympathetic, but then inexplicably turns against him.
The uncle introduces Josef K to an Advocate, who is attended by Leni, a nurse.