Dres032 makes an interesting point in his examination of Joseph K’s personality. In a recent blog post, “In Response to “Should We Even Be Reading This,” I commented on my first impression of the main character. I particularly recognized a tendency of obnoxious arrogance. This arrogance, as dres032 points out in “Chapter 2: A Unique Cross Examination,” is related to his concern with other people’s opinions of him. Typically, those who are insecure about how others perceive them use a defense technique. In using this technique, they behave inservely to the way they actually feel. For example, a young man who feels as though he is not on the same academic level as the other students in his math class may be compelled to self-adulate when he actually does well. He tries to fool the others by making it seem as though the class is easy for him. Josef K. does something similar. He actually feels insecure about his situation and worrys about whether or not the other characters in the story find him guilty of something. For this reason, he attacks them, insults their intelligence, and makes a point to address his superiority.This is a childish method of coping with insecurity and, as dres032 says, the “sharp outbursts…only serve to worsen his situation.”