of procedural errors. In the face of having committed no crime, Josef K. comes to realize that the entire system of justice, an organization that is hierarchical and all-powerful, is rotten from the top down:
And the significance of this great organization, gentlemen? It consists in this, that innocent persons are accused of guilt, and senseless proceedings are put in motion against them, mostly without effect, it is true, as in my own case. But considering the senselessness of the whole, how is it possible for the higher ranks to prevent gross corruption in their agents? It is impossible. Even the highest Judge in this organization cannot resist it. So the warders try to steal the clothes off the bodies of the people they arrest, the Inspectors break into strange houses, and innocent men, instead of being fairly examined, are humiliated in the presence of public assemblies.
The fictionalized account of Josef K. is more real than fiction. We only need to think of the false arre
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