The Judgment starts with Georg Bendemann writing a letter to his friend who has moved to Russia. Upon completion he goes to visit his father to talk about his engagement.

When he meets his father he is immediately accused of not having such a friend. He is then told that his fiancé does not belong to him. He is accused of not mourning the death of his mother. Finally, Georg Bendemann's father condemns him to drown till death.

After hearing this Georg Bendemann runs into the street and throws himself off a bridge into a river. With that, the story is over.

This is not how things went in real life. Kafka's father actually went along well with the idea. Eventually Kafka stopped the engagement, and he had to ask his father to explain to the other family. This also went over well with his father. Both happenings were very odd and rare.

In The Judgment Georg was the judge of his own fate. His father judged him, and his verdict was carried out. However, Georg was responsible for himself the whole time. The story shows that sometimes we let others think for us, and we subject to what others judge. The classic saying, "If all your friends were jumping off a bridge, would you jump?" was changed into "If everyone told you to jump off a bridge, would you jump?"