 In Prague, a young man pursues a devout, beautiful woman. He compulsively watches her daily at Mass, but cannot muster the courage to speak to her. Just as he makes an overture to begin a conversation, he is interrupted by the startling prostrations and moans of a supplicant who becomes a competitor for the woman s affections. Wracked with jealousy, Kafka s character confronts the supplicant. This encounter results in the narrator s fracturing into multiple identities, perhaps confronting his own shadow or innermost psyche. It is unclear which characters are real and which are ghostly inner encounters. It s a quest for spiritual and mental wholeness.