The Trial: Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis

One morning, Josef K.’s breakfast does not arrive at the usual time. He is surprised by this unprecedented change in routine, and he rings for his landlady’s cook. Immediately, an unfamiliar man arrives and instructs Josef to remain in his room.

Josef exits his room anyway, hoping to speak to his landlady, Frau Grubach. He finds a second man sitting in the living room. This man tells Josef that he and his companion, Franz, have arrived to arrest Josef. They assure him that he will be informed in due time of the charges against him.

The policemen continue to talk, and Josef tries to analyze his position, calculating the costs and benefits of each possible response. Because it happens to be his thirtieth birthday, K. imagines that this could be a practical joke by his colleagues.

Josef asks the men to produce an arrest warrant. The men respond that they cannot answer his questions because they are only low-level functionaries, but insist that they are simply acting in accordance with the law. Josef, indignant, returns to his room, but not before noticing that an elderly couple has been watching the altercation from their window.

Suddenly, the men yell to Josef that their supervisor wants to see him. The police insist that Josef put on his best black suit, and lead him into another room of the house that is rented by a typist named Fraulein Burstner. The supervisor is seated at the desk, and there are three young men in the room with him. Josef demands more details of his arrest, but the supervisor forcefully replies that he knows nothing of Josef’s crime—only that he is under arrest. Josef protests louder and louder; he also notices that the old man and woman watching from their window have been joined by a third man. He yells at these spectators to leave him alone.

The supervisor tells Josef that he may leave for his job at the bank. They tensely part ways, and Josef goes to the bank with the three young people who were in Fraulein Burstner’s room, whom Josef has realized are colleagues of his.

After work, Josef usually takes a walk and goes to a pub with his colleagues; once a week, he calls upon a cocktail waitress named Elsa. After this workday, however, Josef heads straight home. He apologizes to Frau Grubach about the morning’s disturbance. She is unwilling to find fault with him because he is her favorite tenant, although her manner betrays some anxiety.

On his way out of Frau Grubach’s room, Josef asks about Fraulein Burstner’s whereabouts. Grubach tells him that the young woman hasn’t yet returned from one of her late nights at the theater. The landlady also insinuates that Burstner fraternizes with men in an immodest way. Josef snaps angrily at the landlady for impugning Burstner.

Josef waits until 11:30, when Fraulein Burstner arrives. She invites him into her room, where Josef explains the day’s events and apologizes for disturbing her space. While reenacting his encounter with the supervisor, Josef lets out a yell that startles Fraulein Burstner and wakes Frau Grubach’s nephew, who sleeps in a nearby room.

Josef comforts Fraulein Burstner, who is concerned about the disturbance he has caused. Impulsively, he showers her with kisses. He returns to his room surprised by, but satisfied with, his behavior, and he worries whether his conduct will raise trouble for Fraulein Burstner.