The Trial Sex Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph). We used Breon Mitchell's translation.

Quote #1

I'm fascinated with court matters. The court has a strange attraction, doesn't it? But I'll certainly increase my knowledge in that area, because I start next month as a secretary in a law firm. (2.10)

The term "court" may as well be interchangeable with "sex" here. That Fraülein Bürstner is becoming a secretary in a law firm is doubly ironic because, as we learn throughout the novel, all the women associated with the courts have a tendency to sleep with anyone remotely associated with the courts.

Quote #2

You needn't spare me in any way. If you want it spread around that I assaulted you, that's what Frau Grubach will be told and what she will believe, without losing confidence in me, that's how devoted she is to me. (2.11)

K.'s willingness to take on the guilt for a crime he didn't commit is odd, given that he struggles so much against his indictment for a crime he may or may not have committed. This passage introduces the association of sexual violence and criminal guilt that we get throughout the novel.

Quote #3

K. […] rushed out, seized her, kissed her on the mouth, then all over her face, like a thirsty animal lapping greedily at a spring it had found at last. (2.11)

K. here virtually attacks Fraülein Bürstner, "like a thirsty animal," as she seems to barely tolerate his embraces. Ironically, he's actually committing the crime – sexual violence – that he was going to take the guilt for to protect Fraülein Bürstner (see Quote #2).