# Uncle — The Trial character guide

> Uncle in The Trial by Franz Kafka.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0006-chapter-six-k-s-uncle-leni

## Snapshot

Josef K.'s provincial uncle, a cigar-chewing man of abrupt questions and old-fashioned obligations, who arrives determined to drag his nephew's trial into the open and fix it with family connections.

## Who they are

He treats K.'s arrest as a family embarrassment to be managed briskly, scolding him for silence and insisting that a man of his standing should have written sooner. His instinct is to act, to call in old favors, to move K. out of the city where the court's reach might thin. He means well, but his confidence in the machinery of influence only deepens K.'s entanglement with people who promise more than they deliver.

## Relationships

### [Josef K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/josef_k)

_family_

Josef K.'s uncle is a concerned but overbearing relative who tries to help him with the trial, leading to tension and frustration.

### [Erna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/erna)

_family_

Erna is the niece of Josef K.'s uncle, and they share a familial bond that involves concern for Josef K.'s situation.

### [Josef K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/josef_k)

_family_

Josef K.'s uncle is a concerned but overbearing relative who tries to help him with the trial, leading to tension and frustration.

### [Josef K.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/josef_k)

_family_

Josef K.'s uncle is a concerned but overbearing relative who tries to help him with the trial, leading to tension and frustration.

### [Erna](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/erna)

_family_

Erna is the niece of Josef K.'s uncle, and they share a familial bond that involves concern for Josef K.'s situation.

## In the story

### [Chapter Six: K.'s uncle—Leni](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/chapters/chapter-six-k-s-uncle-leni)

Uncle Karl, K.'s former guardian, arrives from the country, deeply concerned about K.'s trial, and arranges a meeting with Dr. Huld.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters/uncle
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_trial_se/characters