Kafka’s ‘In the Penal Colony’ is a short commentary on law and order, where an unnamed visitor of the penal colony is invited to watch an execution of a man who has not been told what his crime was nor given a trial. Kafka takes time to explain the intricate process of the torture and execution following the prisoners arrest, the officer emphasising the brilliance of it yet the visitor morally objecting to it. 

There is an underlying religious allegory between old and new with frequent emphasis placed on the ‘old governor’ or testament and its methods of justice, versus the greater morals of the new. The depiction of the torture device itself was utterly stomach churning and so uncomfortable to read and picture. ‘In the Penal Colony’ felt similar to ‘The Trial’ in its commentary however expressed it in a far more basic and violent manner.