Law and authority in motion : reading Kafka's novels

Abstract

Law is a prominent theme in Kafka’s works, and this dissertation proposes to read Kafka’s long prose fiction as a coherent reflection on the nature of the relationship between man and law in modernity. Using spatiality as a starting point, this thesis analyses the characters’ movements in the narrative spaces of Kafka’s novels –The Man who Disappeared, The Trial, and the Castle –in relation to how the characters’ rise and fall in power, and their social positions, reflect law’s ambiguity, its inability to communicate its messages and to serve justice. Further, this thesis argues that law does not keep abreast of social changes and is prone to remain stagnant. Law’s inaccessibility is also compounded by the uncertainties created in the judicial process of decision making and interpretation of legislation. Therefore, law creates obstacles for people to access. Despite these obstacles, if people believe in law and accept its authority, they will be accorded power and hope. The law in the novels of Kafka is worthy of examination, not only because of the intriguing yet baffling nature of law that he creates and the various interpretations that scholars have to date put forward, but also because of his apposition of legal and social circumstances of his times in the storyline. Kafka’s writing takes us beyond the usual understanding of law offering stability in guiding people and regulating their relationships, and of law offering the requisite assistance that man needs.