Vladimir Nabokov claimed that he had not read Franz Kafka at the time he wrote Invitation to a Beheading. Nonetheless, his novel could be considered Kafkaesque, particularly in its thematic concerns. Read Kafka’s novel The Trial and write an essay comparing and contrasting the two novels’ treatment of bureaucracy.

How do Cincinnatus’s relationships with Rodion and Rodrig evolve over the course of his time in the fortress? How do these changing relationships track with the development of the novel’s themes?

Besides Cincinnatus, Marthe and Cecilia are the only main characters in the novel who aren’t bureaucrats. Do you think either of them would be considered a model citizen in their society? Why or why not?