Chapter 2

Summary

K. is informed on the phone that an inquiry is to take place. It will be on a Sunday and not be held frequently. The Assistant Manager overhears him talking over the phone. K. tends to act superior and declines an invitation to a party. The Assistant ManagerÂ’s attitude is very polite and follows protocol in this chapter. His behavior changes in the course of the mind. Strangely K. forgets to inquire the location where the trial is to take place. The three clerks observe his rushing away on a Sunday to Juliusstrasse. It is a busy locality with poor tenements.

K. reaches some courtyards with a confusing number of three staircases. Willem, his warden has told him that guilt and law attract each other. He believes that he has chosen the right staircase where poor children play on the streets.

All the rooms open. He pretends he is looking for a joiner, Lanz. Finally a woman directs him to a low roofed room packed with people. He finds a man with outstretched hands as if he is paying money while another stares at him. All the men are dressed in loose, black long coats, which puzzle K. A small lad leads him through a clear path towards a platform. The fat little man sitting there complains that K. is late. The gallery where people are located is filled with improper furniture, dusty and reeking.

K. notices that these men are wearing badges which belong to the right or left parties. Everyone is an official. He is so angry that he threatens to strike an old man. The magistrate observes that he is throwing away the chance of acquittal by rushing out, by running away from the interrogation. The audience buzzes round with comments and analysis as he rushes out.

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