Franz Kafka's famous translated novel, The Trial, has been thought by many to be greatly influenced by his strong background and affiliation with theater and literature. Within the novel, Kafka refers to various types of art forms including physical art, the performing and acting arts, and the art of how a person moves and/or interacts with others. Critics have argued that Kafka's background influenced the novel, while others strongly disagree. Kafka's references to the performing arts within the novel were his way of portraying life as a play, something that is written and planned or was it simply the main character treating his situation as an unrealistic event and one joke? Franz Kafka always had a strong background in literature and writing. Pursuing a legal career, Kafka put his writing skills to good use, but he always had a talent and passion for writing literature such as short stories, poems, and complete novels more than for his actual work. At the age of 27, Kafka attended a play put on by a Yiddish theater company performing in Prague. Due to lack of money, the troupe was stranded in the city, where Kafka developed his interest in Yiddish theater (Gray, 301). With the dissolution of this troupe, critics believed that this was what led to the influence of most of Kafka's later writings. This is believed to be due to evidence from a diary found after Kafka's death. These diaries kept records of the plays he attended, plot synopses, character analyses, descriptions of the staging, and critiques of the plays (Gray, 301). Kafka also had a diary full of vignettes about specific productions, along with short reflections on the theater and the production (Puchner, 177). We first see Kafka displaying… in the center of the card… absurd levels, character interactions, and a stronger meaning behind the plot. His subtle use of references to the performing arts allows the reader to leave the interpretation up to those scenes and what each character might represent in that situation. Bibliography: Franz Kafka." 2014. The Biography.com website. 02 May 2014 http:// www.biography.com/people/franz-kafka-9359401. Kafka's anti-theatrical gestures." Taylor and Francesco. Np, nd Web. 3 May 2014. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00168890309597472?journalCode=vger20#.U2Q2YfldWT8"Radical play: gesture, performance and the theatrical logic of law in Kafka." Taylor and Francesco. Np, nd Web. May 3, 2014. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00168890309597474?journalCode=vger20#.U2VQxfldWT8>Kafka, Franz. The process. Definitive ed.. New York: Knopf, 1957-1956. Press.