LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:8 August 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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The Law as Tyrannical Mystery in Kafka’s The Trial

Sujata Rana, Ph.D. and Pooja Dhankar, Ph.D. Student

Abstract

From the ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles to Shakespeare, Dickens and modern legal dramatists, stories about law have fascinated readers and offered a critique of the judicial systems. The fictional situations presented in the works of Shakespeare, Hardy, Dickens, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Herman Melville, Tony Morrison, Garcia Marquez, Dostoevsky, Harper Lee and others throw an ample light on socio- political situations and judicial systems of their times.

The origin of study of the law in literature is related to the law and literature movement which gained momentum with James Boyd White’s renowned book, The Legal Imagination (1973). The movement focuses on the interdisciplinary connection between law and literature. This paper will focus on the mockery of justice, law, lawyers, courts and the incomprehensible and weird nature of the judiciary and bureaucracy in Kafka’s The Trial. The methodology adopted would be the study of the novel from socio-political / historical perspective. Throughout the novel K., the protagonist, is surrounded by people clandestinely associated, with the ominous and secretive court which haunts him. The irony is that although K. believes the legal system to be fair and rational, his encounters with that show him it is arbitrary, despotic and irrational. Although open to multiple interpretations the novel is more about bureaucratic ambiguity and all pervasive tyrannical law and mysterious courts responsible for the curtailing of common man’s freedom.

Introduction—Law and Literature Studies

From the ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles to Shakespeare, Dickens and modern legal dramatists, John Grisham stories about law have fascinated readers and offered a critique of the judicial systems. Such stories have a lesson to teach legal scholars and lawyers alike about the human condition and the law’s effect on it. The fictional situations presented in the works of Shakespeare, Hardy, Dickens, Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, Herman Melville, Tony Morrison, Garcia Marquez, Dostoevsky, Harper Lee and others throw an ample light on socio- political situations and the judicial systems of their times.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. Sujata Rana
Associate Professor (English)
Deenbandhu Chhoturam University of Science and Technology
Murthal (Sonepat) 131039
Haryana
India
sujju69rana@yahoo.co.in

Pooja Dhankar, Ph.D. Student
Deenbandhu Chhoturam University of Science and Technology
Murthal (Sonepat) 131039
Haryana
India
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