Kafka and the Dramatisation of the Guilty.
Kafka... draws the reader into the dramatization of the (guilty) failure to arrive, to communicate, to understand. And it is this movement which he describes again and again, not only on the level of rational discourse, but on a great many levels.
-Heller
Heller's statement is at best a rather enigmatic one: riddled with unanswered questions and uncertainties. The reader of Heller's statement would first ask himself how Kafka... draws the reader into the dramatization, then would question the failure to arrive, to communicate, to understand: arrive, communicate, understand what? Thirdly, one asks oneself what is the movement he describes again and again: drawing the reader into the dramatization or the failure to arrive, communicate, understand. And lastly, one wonders what the "many levels" are that Kafka uses to communicate the rather ambiguous "movement".
The failure to arrive is a recurrent theme throughout the novel. Probably the best example of it is the failure to arrive at a judgement. K is on trial for the entirety of the novel, and never is judgement passed on him. He is waiting for the court to arrive at a judgement during the course of the novel, yet at the end he is only punished: the court never arrives at a judgement. This can be applied to most of the book: for instance K's failure to arrive at the first hearing on time and the failure of his case to arrive at the highest courts. It is if events are placed in suspense, their conclusion shimmering ever so faintly in the distance and the reader, like Tantalus, attempts to attain the unattainable. Failure to arrive may indicate that in "The Trial" the journey or process is more important than its conclusion; was the original German manuscript not actually called "Der Prozess"? However, whatever be the meaning of the failure to arrive, it is instrumental in creating tension as the conclusion continues to be elusive.
Kafka... draws the reader into the dramatization of the (guilty) failure to arrive, to communicate, to understand. And it is this movement which he describes again and again, not only on the level of rational discourse, but on a great many levels.
-Heller
Heller's statement is at best a rather enigmatic one: riddled with unanswered questions and uncertainties. The reader of Heller's statement would first ask himself how Kafka... draws the reader into the dramatization, then would question the failure to arrive, to communicate, to understand: arrive, communicate, understand what? Thirdly, one asks oneself what is the movement he describes again and again: drawing the reader into the dramatization or the failure to arrive, communicate, understand. And lastly, one wonders what the "many levels" are that Kafka uses to communicate the rather ambiguous "movement".
The failure to arrive is a recurrent theme throughout the novel. Probably the best example of it is the failure to arrive at a judgement. K is on trial for the entirety of the novel, and never is judgement passed on him. He is waiting for the court to arrive at a judgement during the course of the novel, yet at the end he is only punished: the court never arrives at a judgement. This can be applied to most of the book: for instance K's failure to arrive at the first hearing on time and the failure of his case to arrive at the highest courts. It is if events are placed in suspense, their conclusion shimmering ever so faintly in the distance and the reader, like Tantalus, attempts to attain the unattainable. Failure to arrive may indicate that in "The Trial" the journey or process is more important than its conclusion; was the original German manuscript not actually called "Der Prozess"? However, whatever be the meaning of the failure to arrive, it is instrumental in creating tension as the conclusion continues to be elusive.