Breathless

Our Prof in Law & Lit scoffed at us for our general dislike of The Trial, but I think he fails to understand the word "like." There were aspects I disliked (the treatment of women seems dubious), but that doesn't deny its many aspects of brilliance. This led to a rather heated discussion on the subway home last night - oh, how our fellow passengers must have loved us.

K could not breathe within the legal system. It corrupts, overwhelms, destroys us so much that it denies our basic functions. The lack of air is something that Lumet uses in to great effect in The Verdict - Frank Galvin is constantly out of breath, running up and down stairs. The presence of law makes everyone unhealthy - the lawyer, Galvin, and the client, K. The extent of the physical deterioration is evident, as the court officials in the tenement cannot breathe properly outside its doors. Even the Court portrait painter chooses to live without air.

Of course, this fundamental physical corruption indicates erosion of the soul and morals. Even the priest is in on it, part of the system both in employment and his behaviour: he tricks K into meeting him, rather than arranging it directly. And the church - albeit on a Thursday morning - is cavernously empty, in comparison to every court or legal proceeding K goes to, teeming with people. We've abandoned God for bureaucracy, for procedures. Even the days indicate that - a mobbed court on a Sunday, empty cathedral on a Thurdsay.

Apparently, this is what being a lawyer does to you. Can't wait!