Court Castle

Author: Franz Kafka (Austria)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The novel The Trial marks the formation of Kafka's unique artistic style. The story depicts a bank clerk who is suddenly arrested by a secret court without being charged, yet he remains free. Knowing his innocence, he must run around and seek help. However, no matter who he asks, as long as he is prosecuted by the court, it is extremely difficult to escape. In the end of the novel, two black-clad men take him away on a night and secretly execute him. The novel The Castle highlights Kafka's artistic characteristics as a master of modernist literature. The story follows the protagonist K, who arrives in a village within the domain of a castle and attempts to enter it. He employs every means: posing as a surveyor, seducing the mistress of a castle official, seeking the village head, working as a schoolteacher, and so on. Yet, he fails to enter the castle. The novel remains unfinished. According to Brod, the author's plan was that K struggles until his death and finally receives a notice from the castle, allowing him to live in the village but not enter the castle.