Kafka's novel is a study of relationships, particularly between the individual and society and between thought and action. K's isolation and perplexity and his begging for the approval of elusive and anonymous powers, epitomize Kafka's vision of 20th-century alienation and anxiety.

Kafka's novel is a study of relationships, particularly between the individual and society and between thought and action. K's isolation and perplexity and his begging for the approval of elusive and anonymous powers, epitomize Kafka's vision of 20th-century alienation and anxiety.