The Prisoner has often been described as "Kafka-esque", meaning it is often surreal, blurring the boundaries between reality and fantasy. However the parallels between the Prisoner and the story of Joseph K. in Kafka's The Trial are much closer than just the emphasis of the programme.
Der Prozess {The Trial} was written by Franz Kafka in 1914. The basic story is about Joseph K. who wakes up one morning to find himself arrested and pronounced guilty of a crime he has not committed, indeed the crime of which Joseph K. is charged to have committed is never mentioned. He attempts to procure justice only to come up against a bureaucratic nightmare, against which he cannot win. It is such a complex story that it is not possible to outline it in a nutshell, but to get to the point, how does ‘the Prisoner’ resemble The Trial/ Well the similarities are such, and not in any particular order, as Joseph K. wakes up to find himself under arrest without knowing what he has done, so too the Prisoner wakes up in the Village to find himself abducted without knowing why.
During the episode ‘Dance of the Dead’ No.6 is put on trial as Joseph K. is put on trial without knowing his crime, both given a defence lawyer, in the case of No.6 his defender is his observer No.240. No.6 is faced with a bureaucratic nightmare, one that he cannot win. At his trial Joseph K. is found to be guilty and is sentenced to death, the sentence is carried out. No.6 is found to be guilty of the possession of a radio set, is sentenced to death, but in his case the sentence is not carried out.
In Kafka's The trial we never find out what the K stands for in Joseph K. as we never really know the name of the Prisoner-No.6.
Questions; throughout The Trial the question is why? What has Joseph K. done? What is his guilt? In ‘the Prisoner’ the question is why did he resign? Which side runs the village? What is the village guardian? Where is the village? Questions in both cases, and to some degree, remain unanswered.
When Joseph K. meets the interrogator he has to wear black, When No.6 meets No.2 he is wearing charcoal grey............. In Joseph K's second interrogation everyone is wearing badges except Joseph K., No.6 never wears his badge either!
And in ‘Fall Out’ No.6 is again put on trial, although No.6 is allowed to address the court he is not permitted to be heard, shouted down as he is at every attempt to make himself heard! At least Joseph K. was allowed to address the court!
Two men come for Joseph K. to take him away for execution. The two men are wearing black frock coats and black top hats - a good description of the two undertakers who come to abduct the Prisoner in the first instance wouldn't you say?
There are indeed parallels to be drawn between Kafka's The Trail and that of the Prisoner. But in my researches, and sometimes quite by accident, I have also found a number of other literary works which share equal parallels with that of the Prisoner. The ghost story entitled ‘The Midnight Express’ for one, and Bram Stokers 1894 story ‘The Crooken Sands’ to name but two.
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