The Castle is a surreal unfinished novel about the struggles of a land surveyor named K who reports to a village surrounding the titular structure. K attempts to perform his duties, but the various bureaucrats living inside the castle thwart and alienate him repeatedly until his life becomes a grueling circuit of red tape and contradictory statements. K becomes ill later in the book and the story's planned ending involved his death without the resolution of his quest.
Note: The Muir translations refer to the Herrenhof Inn where the Harman translations translate this to the Gentleman's Inn (while the Bell translation calls it the Castle Inn). Below, all references to the inn where the officials stay in the village is the Herrenhof Inn since this was the first, and potentially more widely read, translation.
K. , the Land-Surveyor
The protagonist of the story, recognized as a land surveyor, employed as the school janitor, and a stranger to the townspeople. He spends most of the novel doggedly trying to overcome the bureaucracy of the village and to contact the castle official Klamm, however he is continually thwarted and frustrated. K. forms a sexual relationship with Frieda, the barmaid, however, Frieda eventually abandons K. for one of his assistants, Jeremiah.
Frieda
A former barmaid at the Herrenhof, who is K.'s fiancée for most of the novel. She often finds herself torn between her duty to K. and her fears regarding his over-zealousness. She eventually abandons K. and ends up in the arms of his former assistant, Jeremiah (who has since become a waiter at the Herrenhof).
Hans , landlord (Bridge Inn)Nephew of the original owner of the inn; according to his wife, Gardena, he is lazy and overly nice to K. According to K. if Hans had another wife whose first love he would have been then he would have been more independent, diligent and manly.
Gardena, landlady (Bridge Inn)The prime mover of the Bridge Inn which she has been running singlehandedly for years, the work however has taken its toll on her health. She is a former short-term mistress to Klamm and very distrustful of K.'s motives who she evicts because of K's insistence on meeting Klamm; she remains infatuated with Klamm.
Barnabas , a messengerA messenger of the castle assigned to K. He is new to the service; K. is instructed to use him to communicate with the official Klamm. He is slender and agile though very immature and sensitive.
Arthur and Jeremiah , K.'s assistants (Artur and Jeremias in Harman edition)Shortly after his arrival in the village, K. is assigned two assistants to help him with his various needs. They are a continual source of frustration and annoyance for him, however, he eventually drives them from his service through his brutal treatment. They have been assigned to K., to make him happy, by the official Galater who was deputizing for Klamm at the time.
Mayor/Superintendent ( Village Council Chairman in Harman edition; German: Dorfvorsteher )A friendly, fat, clean-shaven man assigned by Klamm to give K. his assignment and hence is his superior; however according to Gardena he is utterly insignificant and wouldn't last a day in his position if not for his wife Mizzi; although according to the Teacher he is a worthy, experienced, and venerable old man. The mayor suffers from gout and receives K. in bed; he explains to K. why he is not needed as a land surveyor. He offers K. the job of school janitor to the dismay of the Teacher.
Mizzi , the mayor's wifeThe wife and assistant of the Mayor, Gardena refers to her as the one who does the work.
Klamm
An elusive castle official who is K.'s Castle Authority. Like the other Castle officials in the book, his actual area of expertise is never mentioned. K. spends a large portion of the novel trying to secure a meeting with Klamm. K., it seems, fixes many of his hopes for a successful resolution to his problems upon this meeting with Klamm. He has at least two secretaries—Erlanger (First Secretary) and Momus.
In Czech (and Kafka was able to speak and read/write Czech) "klam" means "illusion."
In Praha Prague the Clam-Gallas Palace is of the same sound and may have influenced Kafka to use this multiple meaning of the Clam-Klamm, Clam-Gallas Palace (Prague) and Eduard Clam-Gallas
Momus , Klamm's secretaryA young gentleman, extremely good-looking, pale and reddish; handles all written work for and receives all petitions to Klamm. He is also secretary for Vallabene, who is not mentioned again in the novel. He insists on interrogating K., who refuses to submit.
Erlanger , Klamm's secretaryThe First Secretary of Klamm who is sent to "interrogate" K, but only gives him a short message.
Olga , Barnabas' sisterThe older sister of Amalia and Barnabas. She helps K. on his quest, partly by telling him the story of why her family is considered outcasts and by teaching him some of the village customs.
Amalia , Barnabas' sisterYounger sister of Barnabas and Olga. She was disgraced in the village after rudely turning down a summons from the castle official Sortini for sexual favors.
Barnabas' Father The father of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas. Past village cobbler and notable fireman. After Amalia's disgraceful interactions with Sortini's messenger, his business is ruined and he is stripped of his fire credentials. He is rendered an invalid after unsuccessfully trying to obtain a pardon for his family.
Barnabas' Mother The mother of Olga, Amalia and Barnabas.
Otto Brunswick , son-in-law of Lasemann (brother-in-law of Lasemann in Harman edition)Hans Brunswick's father. Opportunistically takes over Barnabas' father's customers as the Barnabas family falls into disrepute from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger. According to the Mayor, Brunswick was the only person in the village that desired that a land surveyor be hired. No reason for this is given.
Frau Brunswick Hans Brunswick's Mother. She refers to herself as "from the castle" and is the only reference to a female at the castle. K. believes that she may assist him in gaining access to the castle.
Hans , a sympathetic studentA student at the school where K is a janitor. Offers to help K and K uses him to attempt to find ways to get to the castle through his mother.
Herrenhof LandlordLandlord of the Herrenhof Inn.
Herrenhof Landlady
Well dressed landlady at the Herrenhof Inn. Seems to be the matriarch of the Inn (as is Gardena at the Bridge Inn). Is distrustful of K.
Galater He is the castle official that assigned the assistants to K. He was also "rescued" by Barnabas' father in a minor fire at the Herrenhof Inn.
Brügel ( Bürgel in Harman edition)A Secretary of a castle official, Friedrich. Friedrich is not mentioned again in the book, but in deleted text is referred to as an official who is falling out of favor. Brügel is a long-winded secretary who muses about Castle interrogations with K, when the latter errantly enters his room at the Herrenhof Inn. He indirectly offers to help K., however K is so tired that he does not accept the offer.
Sordini An Italian castle secretary of formidable abilities, though he is kept in the lowest position of all, he exhaustively manages any transactions at the castle for his department and is suspicious of any potential error.
Sortini Castle official associated with the village fire brigade who solicits Amalia with a sexually explicit and rude request to come to his room at the Herrenhof.
Teacher A young, narrow-shouldered, domineering little man. When K. becomes the janitor at the school, the teacher becomes K.'s de facto superior. He does not approve of K. working at the school, but does not appear to have the authority to terminate K's appointment.
Miss Gisa ( Fräulein Gisa ), the school mistressTall, blond and beautiful if rather stiff assistant school teacher who is courted by Schwarzer and also dislikes K.
Schwarzer An under-castellan's son who appears to have given up living in the castle to court Miss Gisa and become her student teacher; is prone to outbursts of official arrogance.
Pepi Small, rosey and healthy; a chambermaid who is promoted to Frieda's barmaid position when the latter leaves her position at the Herrenhoff to live with K. She was a chambermaid with Emilie and Hennriette.
Lasemann , a tanner, father-in-law of Otto Brunswick (brother-in-law of Otto Brunswick in Harman edition)Slow and dignfied, the village tanner whose house K. rests in for a few hours during on his first full day in the village.
Gerstacker , a CoachmanInitially suspicious of K. but gives him a free sleigh back to the Bridge Inn after refusing to provide a ride to the castle. At the end of the book attempts to befriend K. since he believes K. has clout with Erlanger.
Seemann , the Fire Company chiefThe fire chief who strips Barnabas' father of his fireman diploma after Barnabas' family falls into shame from Amalia's rude treatment of Sortini's Messenger.
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