The Trial (Franz Kafka) - Thug Notes Summary & Analysis

Join Wisecrack! SUBSCRIBE! ►► bit.ly/1y8Veir
Support Wisecrack on Patreon! ►► wscrk.com/Wisec...
From plot debriefs to key motifs, Thug Notes’ The Trial Summary & Analysis has you covered with themes, symbols, important quotes, and more.
The Trial (1925)
by Franz Kafka
Get the book! ►► amzn.to/2gqkcKQ
===More Episodes!===
MADAME BOVARY ► wscrk.com/MdmBryTN
THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH ► wscrk.com/GlgmshTN
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER ► wscrk.com/FlloU...
A WRINKLE IN TIME ► wscrk.com/aWrnTmTN
FIGHT CLUB ► wscrk.com/FtCbTN
CASK OF AMONTILLADO ► wscrk.com/CskAm...
===Connect with us on Social Media!===
FACEBOOK ►► ThugNotes
TWITTER ►► @SparkySweetsPhD
Get Email Alerts ►► eepurl.com/bcSRD9
Check out our Merch! ►► www.wisecrack.c...
© 2016 Wisecrack, Inc.

[@CoriSparx]

_"Sometimes the gnarliest evil is a boring-ass bureaucracy that wears yo' ass down day by day with bullshit rights and corrupt systems that make yo' life such a living hell that you don't even know what you fightin for no more!"_ Words of wisdom right there. Seriously XD

[@__-cd9ug]

whenever somebody asks you what the hell kafkaesque means, just repeat that sentence haha

[@Sarinleigh]

Still like that today

[@LucBoeren]

That's so fucking good I could cry

[@mikeRoweSoftLee]

thug notes is lit

[@MadameRaven1]

Hugh Mungus literally literature lit.

[@jackblair9668]

Nice AJJ pfp

[@heyitsmed4556]

What are the chances? Knife Man is a great album.

[@kangaroofuno]

What does the word "lit" mean?

[@TomboTime]

It puts the lit in literature

[@GelidGanef]

Yeah, Kafka straight predicted the nazis and shit, and Orwell stole a couple pages from him when he did his thing later. But wasn't Kafka really taking shots at religion? The Trial, The Castle, they both happen all around churches and religious symbols. The priest said it, even he's part of the jury. The Trial isn't just about a system that seems unfair. It's about being guilty, without even knowing why. And it's about Kafka's spiritual guilt, in front of judges who were everywhere, but he never got to face to hear what he did wrong.

[@emt3417]

He likely was commenting about religion, and some aspects of the expectations/obligations of family as well. At least that's how I used to think of it.

[@digitalbrentable]

My reading on the church in The Trial is that it's a metaphor for how these kinds of totalitarian bureaucracies often to collude with, co-opt, and deploy traditional religious values and devotion as a method of reinforcing control (alongside other methods). In this manner, organised religion becomes a tool for societal control and institutional oppression, at least as much if not more so than as a cultural centre of religious faith.

[@Posiman]

I wouldn't take it as a religious metaphor, considering Kafka was from Prague. Religion was not such a big theme and churches powers were limited. Jews back then were not discriminated here because of their religion, but because they were usually German (or Yiddish) speaking and Czech speaking people hated them for that. In Czech history, religion was often used just as a tool of power with reigning dynasties changing the official religion back and forth. This is what I see as the reason for making religious figures part of the depersonalised, all encompassing bureaucratic regime in his books.

[@socotroquito2007]

This book is direct influence in Terry Gilliam's Brazil a must see movie for Kafka fans

[@acolston1670]

We don't even know what order the chapters are supposed to be in, so...

[@breonofthefrench8728]

This is the first and only time that Kafka has been explained to me so well and interpreted in such a way that I clearly understand. Thank you Thug Notes. This is why I watch you.

[@ShardtheWolf]

I'd love to see any of the H.P. Lovecraft stories here.

[@dannyp2970]

He doesn't get all buthurt about racist artists, he can separate the creation from the creator. Thank Fuck cause all that "H.P. Lovecraft is racist so I ain't gonna read his book," is some straight SJW toilet shit.

[@stacksmalacks8826]

How coincidental, I just finished this last week and have moved onto the Castle in the meantime. Looked for any decent analysis of the Trial and there seems to be a lack so I am glad for anything this video puts across.

[@stevenklnes7148]

I'm still hoping Thug Notes does my favorite piece from Kafka, "In the Penal Colony"

[@zimtkind2255]

Oh so good!

[@SuperTonyony]

That one’s gut-wrenching!

[@HAL-vc3of]

That one’s great. To bad it never happened

[@Majoofi]

More relevant than ever.

[@reshmant7985]

It is timeless and hence would always remain relevant

[@Hoonters-goona-Hoont]

I feel like the man himself had way more fun narrating this episode than many of the others. Props!

[@loganlepine3087]

Love thug notes man 👌🏻👌🏻

[@shreddedskull666]

The whole point of the book is that Joseph K. is the only one who is holding him down, the court tries to show him his crimes and help him by presenting important characters to him at various times throughout the book. But K. ignores all of their signs, instead of talking to the chief clerk of the court, he runs off with Leni, Instead of asking questions at the assembly, all he does is rant, and when he meets the information officer, he faints. The point isn’t that the beauracracy is holding him down, K. is just too blind when they try to reveal his real crimes. For example, he assults Fraulein Burstner at the end of the third chapter, and then during his assembly, he notices that the student is assaulting the washerwoman. The court literally shows him an assault, but he is too ignorant to notice what is going on.

[@Voltanaut]

I dare you (emphasis on dare) to _attempt_ either Infinite Jest or War and Peace or... Proust!

[@aliquidcow]

War and Peace I'd love to see, I don't think it would be that hard since a lot of the second half is just Tolstoy going off on rants. Infinite Jest though, I don't even know how one would begin to summarise that!

[@Voltanaut]

aliquidcow I wouldnt mind our main man taking a month off to attempt it. Or many another Cormac McCarthy novel. Preferably The Road or one of his Southern Gothics (which are basically his first four novels).

[@brandonmadden7906]

HarryIsTheGamingGeek reading infinite jest for the first time now. def need a series of ThugNotes on it

[@sherierodrigues1569]

OMGOODNESS, relevant today, more than ever.

[@Sabrina-sp9gx]

you guys should do the little prince, it would also be good for a philosophy video too

[@blacksaber89]

I seriously miss thug notes, they might not have always been a homerun but always entertaining, insightful, and hilarious

[@Ben-rz9cf]

The parable at the end is exactly what applying for a job in LA is like

[@paradoxinmotion]

these are my favourite videos ever!

[@neemo0o0o]

This was unrealistically awesome. And I am opera listener, Kafka reader, uptight women.

[@samratdahal6561]

One of my friend gave me this book saying it is "very well recieved"... and being a aspiring writer, i decided to read it thinking what kind of book can be categorized as "well received"... And that became my sole reason until the end for me to keep putting in the hours and keep reading this book and i still couldn't find any thing to call it as well-receivable. Hence, i am reading reviews from people to see what they liked about the book. After i hear them i kind of see their point. This book is not for everyone or atleast for someone he is more intrested in a plot driven or character driven stories like me.

[@boxertest]

This is a wild book

[@godlessgoth213]

This is a good anology of Kafka.

[@antjluc]

please cover The Native Son by Richard Wright

[@doddimor4854]

What a luck ! I just finished reading it but as the French version Le Procès , it's an amazing book , and an analysis of it is very helpful .

[@doddimor4854]

Goddammit , this was hilarious ! 😂😂

[@CylonsAteMyHomework]

I've missed you so! Maybe do an episode of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower?

[@hellraiser338]

I know they already did this in Earthling Cinema but can you do "The Shining". Or maybe "The Stand". Either of those would be awesome.

[@JosephTPorter]

Love the videos, prof! Any chance you could shed some light on Infinite Jest?

[@AnthonySmith]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

[@TheLudified]

verified before 1k? lucky you!

[@AnthonySmith]

Sorrow In A Can i'm known for other stuff ;)

[@AnthonySmith]

Sorrow In A Can haha, nothing so interesting. I help people much more famous than me make silly online videos as a part of their job :)

[@TheLudified]

Anthony Smith Oh thats cool!

[@tomasalvim1022]

I was waiting for this episode for a year!

[@HighCrimson]

I really like all your analyses! Could you do Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami?

[@DiegoAravenaRamirez]

these analysis are so good!

[@beesonjoseph]

You should do Naked Lunch or another William S Burroughs book!

[@ThePowerofYeti]

Please Man, read Andorra by Max Frisch! It's built as a Theater Play and is therefore a little special to read, but it's deep. I mean really deep and makes us question Things like Identity, Guilt, Race or Nation. Especially nowadays I feel like it could get a revival, as many of the Questions in the book are also Questions we are facing in the World right now. Keep up the good Work! And thanks for some superbe Infotainment!

[@mzf3lg]

This man rocks but if only he didn't curse he would make it to the summit with his analysis and summaries. Thanks anyway bro and keep up the good clean work.

[@frankle3143]

You should do "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

[@alexa.910]

Please do "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor

[@balder7810]

YESSSSSSSSSSSS East of Eden by Steinbeck next would be fantastic.

[@ghouljoex8744]

I hate that i dont see many new episodes of this anymore but a brother git to read mad books before he can put vids out.

[@charlamarielange8357]

Damn. Had never heard of this story before and wow.

[@TheBlackDeck]

Well done.

[@alexpetkanas4205]

This was so helpful, thank you

[@juandabbler4707]

Sometimes you gwyne to git hurt, en sometimes you gwyne to git sick; but every time you's gwyne to git well agin

[@cascooley2392]

Please do East of Eden by John Steinbeck.

[@macmedia1000]

Please do One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

[@cameronprior6190]

Please do The Wave

[@jimmyjam5109]

I've been watching this shit for 2 days and ain't been disappointed yet!!!!! If you want to know the truth. Then you gotta hear truth. Think about what's important to you. Then think about what you've just heard. Then go forward(; .....

[@sandeh_g]

Do Tess of the D'Urbervilles

[@bfitz82]

"The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" by Murakami would be a trip.

[@ThomasPoulin]

I'm confused as to why you didn't even mention Kafka's relationship with his father

[@StayPuftedMarsh]

Do Hound of Baskervilles, please.

[@PsychopathUltimate]

Do the Horus Heresy.

[@pantsgoboom]

Which book? The first three or just the first one? Or the entire series? Which is on book 41 and still isn't finished yet. :)

[@saxeladude]

It's like how dogs give us loyalty and we just parasite off their happiness

[@tominhaledhisfingers2468]

Fear and loathing please would be a bit of a switch up and it's a hilarious book

[@DenisKitchen]

Amazing!

[@IamNotonDrugs]

Do never let me go

[@martinsriber7760]

Why is Kafka so popular in USA?

[@Cumbercuke]

Because we are living it.

[@Kabunz]

Martin Šriber even more popular in Germany since Kafka was a german guy. we all have to read it in our final school year and the novel is really hard to get :p

[@martinsriber7760]

CharliesSchokoladenfabrik 1) He was Jew. 2) Having same ethnicity isn't good enough reason for such popularity. 3) I am asking about USA, because there doesn't seem to be connection.

[@Kabunz]

Martin Šriber 1) Yes he was. A lot of german inhabitants used to be Jews. He died before the Nazi crimes happened. 2) I think every country teaches mostly regional literature to their students, we read lots of old plays by Schiller, Goethe, Kleist, Dürrenmatt, Wedekind, Lessing and so on. 3) Sorry, I don't know. But I think there are much more popular novels and plays in the USA and most of them are American or British.

[@rftt6y7tr]

It's not just popular in USA Kafka popular all over the world the questions/themes about what makes a good law system, government, security vs freedom resonate. That being said as part of having to study foreign literature Kafka may be particularly attractive recently because of all the security vs freedom debate that's existed constantly since 911 in the USA. The film of the trail being a groundbreaking one (in English) helps

[@booknado]

Do the bad beginning please

[@aarondoty6923]

The Master and Margarita please!

[@MetalCato]

damn this series is soooo good

[@thevipergarcia1]

Please do The sorrows of young Wherther - Goethe

[@Akentrophyta]

Damned Sparky, throw it down!

[@GregFThatBespectacledPegasus]

I'd be interested in seeing a Thug Notes interpretation of Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson. just throwing it out there.

[@owencamlin9928]

I'd be interested in seeing Thug Notes cover I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, or The Prince if non fiction can be covered.

[@germanvega189]

This guy got me through all of collage Thank you I really appreciate what you do, you are fucking awesome.

[@fallout3fan623]

Well this was fuckin awsome, can you do one on 'I have no mouth and I must scream'? I never really understood it from any philosophical perspective besides the idea that it's one of the original ' fear technology, for it may turn on you' stories, similar to terminator.

[@CDeruiter5963]

Could you do a video on either The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov or The Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan, please?

[@Mu91c14n]

Please, get to doing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson!

[@1rockcrawford]

do Plato's "The Republic" :)

[@19Laika57]

Would love to see a video for White Teeth by Zadie Smith

[@julianaricardo8596]

Please do The Phantom of the Opera by Gastón Leroux

[@MrReaLegend]

Do paradise lost and/or Proust

[@mephistozygote6623]

Nice rendition, i'd interested to see a review of Sartre's "The Wall"

[@Kyle_Schaff]

Someone should make a compilation of Sparky saying "Lata'" lol

[@sxrxrnrvigil]

Bartleby the scrivener by Herman Melville please!

[@markrowell173]

Any particular reason for using Egon Schiele?

[@omarzacharybaboolal1394]

can you please do "the stranger" by camus

[@Jack-rf1jy]

You guys should do In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

[@DanGod07]

Please do the plague dogs!

[@airplainchild]

Can yo do a Murakami book?

[@SilentSub]

God damn.. I just finished a unit on this book

[@_booth7992]

Watership down by Richard Adams plz

[@GrahamMilkdrop]

Yo! Do 'The Mind Parasites' by Colin Wilson. Peace!

[@rikochette25]

Preach!

[@NateAndersenmonologistics]

Can we get this back? New episodes please

[@sudevsen]

the movie is top notch too

[@multi-voiceentertainment7013]

Hey Thug Notes can you do The Time Machine by H. G. Wells? If you're not so bizzy.

[@DxC-95]

Knock knock; maaan, that BETTER be my food! XD

[@chesterstevens8870]

I want to make a sitcom where Franz Kafka, Edgar Allen Poe, Ernest Hemingway, and Ambrose Bierce all live in a sunny Miami condo with a spunky, eternally-optimistic blonde waitress.

[@alicekliewer]

Cyborg Gunslinger They would eat that waitress alive. Nothing is optimistic when they step into a room.

[@Dredious]

Would you please do New Oz by Andre Jeanjacques

[@basheerdalati1629]

can you do The Man in The High Castle?

[@aldemirodomingosb4640]

can you please do the prophet by khalil gibran

[@FIstof7LEGEND]

What's the name of the violin song playing during the video?

[@grubslekcin]

In law school we compared The Trial to our current Grand Jury system in the US, guess which one was scarier.

[@julienorris2170]

do Watership Down!!!

[@angelcortez8158]

Please do: DO ANDROID DRAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP

[@winterfrost99]

Do Candide!

[@timothyp7120]

masque of the red death please

[@grimbogremlin4291]

Fantastic Mr.Fox?

[@frankievelasco1738]

Yo! I'm going to read this.

[@k-Gonzo]

Insane ARREST Prank GONE WRONG!!1! (Gone Bureaucratic)

[@eroupopper]

+Sam Novak The first "Prank gone wrong"

[@RandolphCthulhu]

Problem with "Justice" like this it moves more like a con game than official justice. Hard to tell real justice from a con game at that point.

[@sweetsweetmeat]

'"Like a dog" he said, it is as though the shame would outlive him.' I'll never forget the last sentence of that book. A perfect summation, in my opinion.

[@ansabilyas764]

How?

[@EricPendleton]

I don’t think Kafka actually wrote that. He never finished most of his books before he died. They were finished by his friend who had his stuff published posthumously. I guess he had trouble concluding his work. That why most of his stories end so abruptly.

[@VincentMaslowski]

@@EricPendleton Kafka allegedly wrote and the beginning and ending chunks of The Trial first, and then haphazardly went about filling in the middle portions.