Teaching The Trial

Instructions for You

Objective: The priest chaplain poses a bit of a riddle to Josef K. in Chapter 9 of The Trial. Today, your students will solve it by looking at the parable of the doorkeeper from that chapter, and deciding which character in that scenario holds the real power in the situation: the doorkeeper, the man from the country, or the institution of the law. That's not all, however—after solving that part of the riddle, they'll then make a judgment about who holds the most power in The Trial.

This is a useful activity because it focuses on one of the most important themes from The Trial: power. K.'s main struggle occurs because of his powerlessness; he's on trial for an unnamed crime and can't escape. Discussing the parable of the doorkeeper is a great way to look at the complicated nature of power throughout the story. Plus, it will definitely get your students arguing about literature, which is always a good thing.

This lesson should take one class period.

Materials: Chapter 9 of The Trial, excerpt from A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings

Step 1: Ask your students a simple warm-up question: "Which character in The Trial has the most power?" Let them discuss this among themselves for a few minutes before asking for their feedback.

Step 2: After your students have given their answers, tell them that they're going to look at a riddle from A Clash of Kings, Book 2 of the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series that inspired the TV show, Game of Thrones. (This pop culture reference should definitely get their attention.) Present them with this riddle from the book:

In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two.

"Do it," says the king, "for I am your lawful ruler." "Do it," says the priest, "for I command you in the names of the gods." "Do it," says the rich man, "and all this gold shall be yours." So tell me- who lives and who dies? (Martin, A Song of Fire and Ice)

Ask your students to discuss which character in this riddle has the most power: the king, the priest, or the rich man with his gold.

Step 3: Your students will undoubtedly have very strong opinions about who holds the most power in the scenario presented above. Let them share their thoughts before offering them this scene from the TV series' Season Two episode, "A Clash of Kings," where Varys the eunuch breaks down the entire riddle for Tyrion Lannister:

VARYS: Perchance you have considered the riddle I posed you that day in the inn?

TYRION: It has crossed my mind a time or two. The king, the priest, the rich man-who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It's a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword.

VARYS: And yet he is no one. He has neither crown nor gold nor favor of the gods, only a piece of pointed steel.

TYRION: That piece of steel is the power of life and death.

VARYS: Just so...yet if it is the swordsmen who rule us in truth, why do we pretend our kings hold the power? Why should a strong man with a sword ever obey a child king like Joffrey, or a wine-sodden oaf like his father?

TYRION: Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords.

VARYS: Then these other swordsmen have the true power. Or do they? Whence came their swords? Why do they obey? Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law…Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less. (Source)

Once your students have had some time to think about this scene, ask them to write a three-paragraph essay about the parable of the doorkeeper from The Trial, explaining which character has the most power. They'll accomplish this task by using the priest's words, and also comparing the characters in the parable to another character in the novel. (You can direct them to Shmoop's character list as a helpful reference.)

Step 4: Your students will continue to work on their essays. If they seem stuck, this list of guiding questions should help them along:

• In the scene from the episode of Game of Thrones,Varys says that power resides where men believes it resides—no more and no less. Where do you think power resides in The Trial? Where do the characters believe power resides?
• In The Trial, the priest offers several different interpretations of the doorkeeper parable, saying why each different character has the most power. Which interpretation do you agree with? Why?
• Which character in The Trial holds the most power? Think about which characters are the most dependent on others, and which characters have the most people depending on them. Which characters are the least beholden to the Law, and which ones are crushed by it?

Don't forget to direct your students to Shmoop's helpful summary of Chapter 9 to read along with the text itself.

Step 5: Have your students share their essays. Most of them will probably come to the same conclusion that the institution of the Law is where the power resides in The Trial. However, they might have very different opinions about which individual character holds the most power.

Step 6: Leave your students with this final question for reflection:

• After discussing the parable of the doorkeeper, the priest says, "the text is unalterable and opinions are only an expression of bewilderment." Keeping this quote in mind, what do you think Kafka would make of a discussion about the nature of power in The Trial?

Instructions for Your Students

In Chapter 9 of The Trial, the priest chaplain tells Josef K. a parable about a doorkeeper and a man from the country. We want to know what you make of this scene—to us, it's one of the most interesting parts of The Trial. This particular riddle keeps many a Kafka scholar up at night, and everyone who reads it is bound to have a different opinion about whether the doorkeeper or the man from the country ultimately holds the cards in the situation.

Today, you get to decide. You're going to look at this parable and the novel as a whole, consider the nature of power, and think about which character has the most. This isn't an easy question to answer, but just like there's no "right" answer to the riddle that the priest poses to Josef K., there's no single answer here either. What matters to us is how well you defend your opinion.

Step 1: Your teacher is going to start you off with a simple warm-up question: "Which character in The Trial has the most power?" Discuss this with your classmates for a few minutes. Your answer will become more detailed later on, but for now, we just want you to go with your gut reaction.

Step 2: After you give your answer, you're going to look at a riddle from A Clash of Kings, Book 2 of the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series that inspired the TV show Game of Thrones. (Don't worry—no spoilers here!):

In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a little man of common birth and no great mind. Each of the great ones bids him slay the other two.

"Do it," says the king, "for I am your lawful ruler." "Do it," says the priest, "for I command you in the names of the gods." "Do it," says the rich man, 'and all this gold shall be yours." So tell me- who lives and who dies? (Martin, A Song of Fire and Ice)

Discuss among yourselves which character has the most power here: the king, the priest, or the rich man with his gold.

Step 3: Share your answers with the rest of the class. (You'll probably disagree with some of your classmates, but we think that debate is always good!) Then, take a look at this scene from the TV series' Season Two episode, "A Clash of Kings," where Varys the eunuch breaks down the entire riddle for Tyrion Lannister:

VARYS: Perchance you have considered the riddle I posed you that day in the inn?

TYRION: It has crossed my mind a time or two. The king, the priest, the rich man-who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? It's a riddle without an answer, or rather, too many answers. All depends on the man with the sword.

VARYS: And yet he is no one. He has neither crown nor gold nor favor of the gods, only a piece of pointed steel.

TYRION: That piece of steel is the power of life and death.

VARYS: Just so...yet if it is the swordsmen who rule us in truth, why do we pretend our kings hold the power? Why should a strong man with a sword ever obey a child king like Joffrey, or a wine-sodden oaf like his father?

TYRION: Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords.

VARYS: Then these other swordsmen have the true power. Or do they? Whence came their swords? Why do they obey? Some say knowledge is power. Some tell us that all power comes from the gods. Others say it derives from law…Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less. (Source)

Take a moment to digest that message.

Now, you're going to write a three-paragraph essay about the parable of the doorkeeper from The Trial, explaining which character in the novel has the most power. (Use this character list as a helpful reference.)

Step 4: Start working on your essay, using your text of The Trial and Shmoop's helpful summary of Chapter 9 . If you're stuck, you can use these guiding questions to shake some ideas loose:

• In the scene from the episode of Game of Thrones,Varys says that power resides where men believes it resides—no more and no less. Where do you think power resides in The Trial? Where do the characters believe power resides?
• In The Trial, the priest offers several different interpretations of the doorkeeper parable, saying why each different character has the most power. Which interpretation do you agree with? Why?
• Which character in The Trial holds the most power? Think about which characters are the most dependent on others, and which characters have the most people depending on them. Which characters are the least beholden to the Law, and which ones are crushed by it?

Step 5: Now it's time to share. Read your essay to the class, and be sure to listen carefully as your classmates share their work. You may have come to the same conclusion that the institution of the Law is where the majority of power resides in The Trial, but you'll likely have different opinions about which specific character holds the most power.

Step 6: After you've debated the nature of power, to reflect a bit further, discuss this final question:

• After discussing the parable of the doorkeeper, the priest says, "the text is unalterable and opinions are only an expression of bewilderment." Keeping this quote in mind, what do you think Kafka would make of a discussion about the nature of power in The Trial?