K asks if she would be his mistress instead and she says yes! Soon, K wants to marry Frieda but is told he needs to see Klamm which is impossible because he won’t see anyone from the village. Back at his own inn, K meets the barmaid, Frieda, who he learns is Klamm’s mistress. K learns that Klamm, his immediate superior, is staying there. K tries to get alternative accommodation but the other inn at the village is exclusively for gentlemen from the Castle only. They tell K that strangers are not allowed inside the Castle without permission but they do not know where to get permission from. K can’t tell Arthur and Jeremiah apart so he resolves to call both ‘Arthur’ and to give both the same instructions. He does meet Arthur and Jeremiah, who he is told are to be his assistants though they have no equipment.

Soon it seems to be getting dark even though it feels as if only a few hours have passed and K is not even hungry yet. He tries to make his way there but neither the main road nor any side street seems to lead that way. In the morning, K can see the Castle up on a hill overlooking the village. K explains who he is, and they make a call to the Castle to verify. K is woken in the middle of the night by a villager who tells him he needs permission from the Castle to stay in the village. Instead he is given a cot to sleep in in the reception area. He is late, having chosen to walk through the snow and there are now no rooms available at the inn. K, a land surveyor arrives in a small village. A tale of bureaucratic paralysis, invisible barriers and a labyrinth of obstacles that splinter into more obstacles, The Castle unnerves with its depiction of a pointless, frustrating existence. Along with The Trial and Amerika, The Castle is one of the novels Franz Kafka left unfinished at his death.

The castle by franz kafka