"Reading Kafka's "The Trial", especially for the first time, we often experience a blend of precision and obscurity; words, sentences, and single events are clear in themselves, but are linked to each other in ways we cannot always grasp."
The blend of precision and obscurity is one of the most remarkable aspects of the style in which "The Trial" is written. The device is used constantly and consistently throughout the novel, and we assume that it is used like all other stylistic devices, i.e. to throw an aspect of the novel into relief. In an attempt to determine, if possible, what this aspect is, follows a detailed analysis of two paragraphs on pages 159 to 160 that I deem to be characteristic of the blend of precision and obscurity.
In the two paragraphs, detail and precision interact with each other to produce a blend. Almost all descriptions are quite in depth, such as the description of the "old woman wrapped in a warm shawl", yet these detailed descriptions are not connected with anything else in the book. The old woman does not reappear anywhere else in the book, and no symbolism, hidden meaning or reference becomes apparent after having analyzed the description. In more conventional novels, almost every character that appears is in some way, whether clear or obscure, connected with the main plot or a sub plot. Not so with "The Trial". The old woman's importance and connection, if indeed there is one, remains open to speculation: perhaps she belongs to the court, perhaps the "scrap of what looked like carpet" that K sees in the same paragraph comes from her "warm shawl", perhaps this enigma is simply a device used by Kafka to confuse the reader. The possibilities and perhapses stretch on into infinity until they are lost in the obscurity of the cathedral. Kafka describes an object, person, or concept in great detail, with very few omissions in order to give the described every semblance of reality, but the meaning of the described is left completely open to the reader. This is the particular blend which casts its mottled shadow on the novel.
The blend of precision and obscurity is one of the most remarkable aspects of the style in which "The Trial" is written. The device is used constantly and consistently throughout the novel, and we assume that it is used like all other stylistic devices, i.e. to throw an aspect of the novel into relief. In an attempt to determine, if possible, what this aspect is, follows a detailed analysis of two paragraphs on pages 159 to 160 that I deem to be characteristic of the blend of precision and obscurity.
In the two paragraphs, detail and precision interact with each other to produce a blend. Almost all descriptions are quite in depth, such as the description of the "old woman wrapped in a warm shawl", yet these detailed descriptions are not connected with anything else in the book. The old woman does not reappear anywhere else in the book, and no symbolism, hidden meaning or reference becomes apparent after having analyzed the description. In more conventional novels, almost every character that appears is in some way, whether clear or obscure, connected with the main plot or a sub plot. Not so with "The Trial". The old woman's importance and connection, if indeed there is one, remains open to speculation: perhaps she belongs to the court, perhaps the "scrap of what looked like carpet" that K sees in the same paragraph comes from her "warm shawl", perhaps this enigma is simply a device used by Kafka to confuse the reader. The possibilities and perhapses stretch on into infinity until they are lost in the obscurity of the cathedral. Kafka describes an object, person, or concept in great detail, with very few omissions in order to give the described every semblance of reality, but the meaning of the described is left completely open to the reader. This is the particular blend which casts its mottled shadow on the novel.
