The story actually wasn't originally completed, and some people speculate whether Kafka intended it to have an ending at all.

[Which of course has always been an interesting thing to ponder. People have theorized how the ending would play out]

People think the protagonist would have died in the end, and the system despite its flaws never changed... Since it seems thematically similar to one of his other works, that could be the case.

[One does not go to Kafka for cheerful tales, no]