How does Franz Kafka’s use of limited narration affect readers’ understanding of his protagonists?

Franz Kafka’s use of a limited third-person point of view is a defining narrative technique that profoundly shapes the reader's engagement with his characters. By restricting the perspective to the protagonist's internal experience, Kafka enables readers to identify closely with his often oppressed and passive figures, such as Gregor Samsa in The Metamorphosis.1

This narrative limitation serves a dual purpose. While it fosters empathy for the character's plight, it simultaneously forces the reader to recognize that the protagonist's perception of reality is deeply flawed and subjective. Because the narrative is confined to the character's limited knowledge, the reader is often left as bewildered as the protagonist when faced with the inexplicable, bureaucratic, or nonsensical forces that dominate Kafka’s worlds, such as the mysterious legal proceedings in The Trial. Ultimately, this technique underscores Kafka’s central concern with the problematic nature of human subjectivity, effectively trapping both the character and the reader within an inescapable, individual perspective that resists simple interpretation.12