What happens to Joseph K. at the end of The Trial?
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Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka.
At the end of The Trial, on the eve of his 31st birthday, Joseph K. is taken by two men in frock coats and top hats to an abandoned quarry. They force him to sit with his head resting on a stone, and one of the men drives a knife into his heart, twisting it twice.1
Throughout the narrative, K. never learns the nature of his arrest or the charges against him, nor does he ever comprehend the principles of the judicial system that ensnared him. Ultimately, he offers no resistance to his execution.1