I originally prefaced my interpretation of "the Trial" in my first "Wall" analysis by saying, "not enough can be said about this song." Nearly ten years later and I still hold fast to this original sentiment. For me, "the Trial" is nothing short of a magnificent climax to an album that itself is nothing short of epic. Yet the word "climax" doesn't seem to do the tune justice. Granted, the song brings about some form of resolution to Pink's story, but at the same time it leaves so much unanswered and unanswerable. But what could be more fitting for a story that is as circular as Pink's? And in this sense, "the Trial" is somewhat like the epitome of the entire album, combining its high theatrics, unflinching cynicism, dark humor, tongue-in-cheek irony, deep emotion, and paradoxically, both unwavering nihilism and steadfast optimism. The song is a seeming contradiction, offering a dichotomous look at the light and dark, good and ill, of Pink's life from a number of different perspectives, all of which take place within the mind of one person.

Vance: Who puts him on trial?
Waters: He does.
Vance: He puts himself on trial?
Waters: Yes.

So Waters summarized in his 1979 interview upon "the Wall's" release. I included these comments to emphasize the fact that above all else, one must remember that the root of "the Trial" lies within one man. This is not a "real" indictment, nor do the witnesses called by the prosecution actually testify in an actual court of law against Pink. Like so much of the album itself, "the Trial" is in reality just another of Pink's hallucinations. Shed the song's wild array of characters and intense theatrical style and one is still left with the song's core: one man putting himself on trial for the events of his life and coming to terms with the decisions he's made. Waters continues by saying that "the judge is part of him just as much as all the other characters and things he remembers. They're all in his mind, they're all memories." Being figments of his imagination, each character, though somewhat independent of Pink's main persona, are influenced by his ideas and memories. For example, the character of his mother is more a representation of how Pink views his mom rather than an actual depiction of how she is in real life. It must be remembered that it is Pink and Pink alone who is on trial here, not the bricks that have populated his life. And in keeping with the Floydian irony that peaks up throughout much of the album, while most "trials" determine whether a person goes to jail or not, Pink's trial will determine whether he will be freed from his own self-created prison cell.

The prosecutor introduces the song in his opening speech to the jury and judge. It's interesting to note that he addresses the judge as "Worm, your Honor," recalling the symbol of decay found throughout the second half of the album. Coupled with the fact that the lawyer speaks on behalf of "the crown", it's quite possible that Waters is mocking the British judicial system, insinuating that those who run it are nothing more than fops and closed-minded fools. In terms of the narrative, however, the title "Worm" also suggests that the lawyer and the judge (and jury, for that matter), those characters who aren't based on the memories of actual people, are entirely products of Pink's wall. Having been created out of this delirious isolation, a state of mind that Waters believes to lead to both personal and social decomposition, it is only fitting that the highest authority figure in Pink's delusion, the judge, is addressed as the Worm, the all-encompassing symbol of decay. Since the wall created them, it is only natural that they would view Pink's "feelings of an almost human nature" as a crime. After all, they were spawned from Pink's egotistical need to detach from the world and dull the emotions of life. In this sense, both the lawyer and judge are like outgrowths of the Fascist Pink persona and, like him, are vindictive and militant when it comes to Pink's true self. Yet Pink's sudden shift in perspective in "Stop," the realization that such disconnection was a mistake and that perhaps he truly is to blame for many of his life's problems, certainly counteracts everything upon which his wall and delusions are based on. The wall was built out of selfish needs. The unexpected awareness of his accountability is anything but selfish. It's for this very act of unselfishness that Pink is put on trial by the creations of his isolation, who in turn call various people from Pink's past to testify against him and to prove that he has been selfish all this time.

Like a double-edged sword, the ensuing trial has two sides that eventually converge on the same point: for the people of the wall, exhibiting Pink's selfishness throughout his life proves that his moment of "feelings" was a singular error, albeit an unforgivable one. For Pink, however, the trial's ostentatious display of his egotism is the only way to truly reevaluate his life, contemplate his mistakes, and hopefully move on in his journey towards redemption.

And so the prosecutor calls the schoolteacher to the stand, who in turn wastes no time lambasting Pink's boyhood character. Ironically, the teacher (or rather Pink's version of him) makes Pink look all the more innocent in that his assault on Pink's individuality shows just how similar he, the teacher, is to the wall people / Fascist persona. Like these delusional creations, the schoolmaster is most upset because he was not able to mold Pink and control him, an idea that may find sympathy with the insular inhabitants of the wall but one that doesn't go over well with us, the audience. Instead we are reminded of Pink's former purity and individuality, of his childhood unwillingness (at least in mind) to conform to the strictures of an unjust system. If anything, the testimony of the schoolmaster, which the prosecutor uses to besmirch Pink's character, actually makes us relate with Pink even more. In a way, this brick caused by his school days is almost entirely justifiable, just like the memories of his mother's obsessive control a few verses later nearly vindicates the creation of that maternal brick in Pink's wall

At this point Pink's true self finds his voice and pronounces that he is "crazy" by means of a few euphemisms. It is uncertain whether he feels provoked by the schoolteacher's testimony to speak up in his defense or if he's simply speaking as if to say "there's no need to punish me because I'm already being punished by my insanity." Interestingly, the euphemisms he uses all have certain childlike connotations to them, from toys to fishing to marbles, as if the teacher's accusations not only reminded him of his current situation but also of the his lost childhood innocence.

Although the wife's testimony chronologically comes after Pink's momentary outburst, I'll briefly discuss the final witness before examining the middle, most damaging one. Like the schoolteacher, all the mother is concerned with is controlling Pink, though in an entirely maternal way. Pink's view of her overprotection is laced throughout the song, such as the mother's rhetorical wondering as to why "he ever had to leave me," though the representation of her in this song is relatively the same as the depiction of her in "Mother." Little to nothing has changed between Pink's childhood views of his teacher and mother, once again showing that not all of life's bricks are self-made. The mother eventually pleads with the judge for absolute control, asking if she can "take [Pink] home," just as the teacher previously asked for permission to "hammer him today" (playing off of the symbol of the oppressive hammer). Though the creation of these two bricks is seemingly justifiable, the middle brick in "the Trial" is a far different story.

After the schoolteacher attacks Pink's character and before the mother attempts to herd her child back under her protective wing, the wife glides onto the witness stand and delivers a linguistic thrashing that Pink truly deserves. While the teacher and mother's testimonies are actually thinly veiled laments on their loss of control over Pink, the wife's accusations are spoken more from personal betrayal than the conceited complaints of the other two witnesses. Getting directly to the point, she accuses him of not "talk[ing] to me more often" and of going "your own way," both of which contributed to the lack of communication and personal connection that ultimately destroyed their relationship. In a snide remark referencing Pink's accountability in their failed marriage, the wife sarcastically asks if he's "broken any homes up lately," before asking the judge, much like the teacher, for "five minutes…alone" with Pink to exact retribution. Although one would expect such an attack from a slighted lover, for Pink's self-centered, unresponsiveness was a major factor in the failure of their marriage, one must once again remember that this is NOT the wife testifying but rather Pink's interpretation and memories of her. This is Pink testifying against himself, and for the first time in the entire album, he is seeing his broken marriage from his wife's perspective, realizing that he is indeed to blame for the separation. Until now, Pink has largely lamented his wife's infidelity, wondering how she "could…treat me this way "("Don't Leave Me Now") among other self-absorbed musings throughout the album. But in the wife's testimony against Pink in "the Trial," Pink finally understands how his wall, his self-absorption and lack of emotion, contributed to his wife's unfaithfulness, proving once and for all that he has been "guilty all this time." Nevertheless, her adultery is still a brick in his wall and must be dealt with accordingly.

Once again, Pink sings of his insanity after his mother's testimony, though this time the euphemisms reflect the loss of any sense of reality ("over the rainbow") as well as his self-induced imprisonment ("bars in the windows"), both of which are results of being trapped behind the wall. Why Pink decides to speak out a second time is still as uncertain as before, though one might choose to take a slightly different perspective from the previously stated explanation. Perhaps he is not singing "crazy" as a defense of his actions, a means of saying that he is already being punished by his dementia. Rather, he might be stating the effect that these voices have had on him. After all, each character witness is nothing more than a brick in the wall. And so after hearing each witness testify, Pink might very well sing out as a personal response to what he's hearing, finally realizing that these bricks are the reason that he is "crazy." In other words, the bricks's voices and his subsequent utterances act as an epiphany detailing once and for all the consequences of self-imposed isolation. Furthermore, this complete understanding also leads him to conclude, "there must have been a door there in the wall when I came in." Metaphorically speaking, yes, there was a door. But Pink never found it before now because he was unwilling to perform what one must do in order to gain access to that exit: abandon the self-indulgent notion that "I don't need no arms around me" and reconnect with the outside world. He was unwilling to accept that the door that allows escape from the wall is understanding and communication.

At last, the judge thunders into the song after Pink's pronouncement, accompanied by the familiar "Wall" musical theme that threads its way throughout the album, connecting the bricks of Pink's wall like cement. (Note: This theme is played throughout in various keys and tempos. This same musical arrangement that plays behind the judges voice is also played in both versions of "In the Flesh[?]," the vocals in the "Another Brick in the Wall" trilogy, "Empty Spaces," the rhythm guitar and bass playing behind the guitar solo in "Hey You," and the end guitar riff in "Waiting for the Worms," among other slightly less obvious places in the album.) In what is perhaps another slight against the British judicial system, the judge proceeds with his verdict without allowing the jury time for deliberation. Yet despite the fact that the judge has more lines in the song than any one character, both he and his verdict still remain a bit of a mystery. Although the lawyer sets up the trial as a condemnation of Pink's "feelings of an almost human nature," the judge declares Pink guilty for making his "exquisite wife and mother" suffer, that is he is seemingly punishing Pink for not showing emotion. Could this be an inconsistency within the judge's character? Perhaps. Or perhaps the judge is holding true to the lawyer's fascist indictments, blaming Pink for wanting to be an individual and resisting the oppressive, molding forces of his bricks, personified as the schoolteacher, wife, and mother. And so when the judge is blaming Pink for making the wife and mother suffer, he is referring to the brick versions of these people who would be negatively affected by Pink's human feelings.

Others might claim that the judge is actually the voice of reason in the song, that his verdict is in fact Pink's true self passing judgment on the decisions he's made, such as making his wife and mother suffer. (Sidenote: as for the mother's suffering, who knows. Perhaps Pink's portrayal of her is a bit exaggerated and he really should feel guilty for his callous treatment of her.) By this theory, one could argue that even in the farthest depths of depravity and decay, hope and redemption are present. Furthermore, the judge is influenced by this hope (in that he is a part of Pink) and though he thinks he is punishing Pink in sentencing him to "tear down the wall," he is actually redeeming Pink. Correspondingly, the crowd's chants of "tear down the wall" can be interpreted in numerous ways, either as the vindictive petition for punishment by the wall personas or the concerned pleas for Pink's well being voiced by those "bleeding hearts and artists" outside the wall.

No matter which view one takes, the wall ultimately comes down in the end. Considering that the song is sung largely from the perspective of the wall people who view tearing down the wall as a punishment, many fans think that the wall's collapse is yet another negative turn of events for our hapless anti-hero. It is, in all actuality, anything but punishment. As Roger Waters states in his 1979 interview, "the judgment to de-isolate himself…is a very good thing." Perhaps for the first time in his life, Pink is unfettered by past burdens and is able to experience life to the fullest without the hindrance of dulling mental defenses. While Pink was born into the world in "In the Flesh?" and continually born into new incarnations throughout the album, the destruction of his wall marks his true rebirth into life. Though he is now more vulnerable to the pains of life, he is also more susceptible to life's pleasures, allowing him to truly connect with his emotions, his loved ones, and the world. As Pink's story attests, the wall-like defense mechanisms are in reality more oppressive than protective, replacing humility and understanding with egoism and decay. And though the world remains imperfect despite one man's enlightening journey, the destruction of this one wall removes yet another brick from the larger wall of humanity. The destruction of this one wall becomes another broken link in the vicious, circular chain of oppression and violence. With enough bricks and links gone, the social wall of prejudice will collapse and the circuitous cycle of injustice will be broken.

Considering that much of "the Wall" can be read from a psychoanalytic perspective (as I've done in many of the songs), I thought I would include a brief Jungian interpretation of "the Trial." (I highly recommend the book the Portable Jung as a starting point for those unfamiliar with the works of this psychological and philosophical marvel, who has influenced a generation of thinkers and storytellers from Joseph Campbell to George Lucas.) In his theories on the process of individuation (the process one undergoes in order to create a distinct self), Jung purported that just as we all have good sides to our ego / personalities, we also all have villains / dark sides / evil within us. Jung labeled this darkness as "the shadow," and believed that one could not fully individuate, that is become an individual self, without first accepting the shadow. One can easily see Pink's shadow in the various outcroppings of his decay, most notably the dictator persona. Jung continues by saying that a person who successfully undergoes individuation must first call to light all of the repressed aspects of his own psyche (anima, shadow,etc.) and that he (or she) must then accept all of these aspects as a part of himself. [For those familiar with Jung, one might readily identify the mother and wife personas in "the Trial" as Pink's anima.] However, this full acceptance of the lighter and darker sides of one's persona is especially hard because everyone, to a degree, has Christ-like notions that lead a person to believe that they can actually obtain true perfection, like the Christian figure of Jesus. Jung believed that these notions are unobtainable and false because unlike the mythic or historical figure of Jesus (depending on your religious beliefs), everyone has a shadow, an evilness, inside of them. But because men are often vainglorious and unwilling to accept the idea that they are less than perfect, the shadow is often repressed, preventing that person from accepting his true, whole self, both the good and bad. However, when a person accepts his / her shadow, a sort of enlightenment takes place where his consciousness is broadened and the separate aspects of his psyche merge into one. Thus he becomes an individual self. Accordingly, Pink sets himself up as a Christ figure throughout the movie, repressing his own shadow (his accountability) behind his wall. Yet after repressing these emotions, Pink fully embraces his dark side when he becomes the Dictator, an action that is as dangerous to self-development as repressing one's shadow. But with the "the Trial," every aspect of his persona, both light and dark, are fully realized and accepted, bringing about the collapse of the wall and the emergence of Pink as an individuated self. He takes responsibility for his actions and accepts his shadow as a part of himself, breaking the personal and social cycle of ignorance and unaccountability by taking the next step towards psychological wholeness.

Rivaling the complexity and beauty of "Goodbye Blue Sky" and "What Shall We Do Now," the animation sequence for the "the Trial" is every bit as resplendent as the song's music and lyrics. The scene opens to reveal Pink, now in the form of a faceless rag doll, sitting against his wall, awaiting the commencement of his trial. Even from the beginning of the sequence, one wonders why Pink is depicted as a harmless, relatively motionless doll in this, his most decisive moment. One theory is that once he starts the process of self-judgment, he is unable to stop it. In other words, he is at the mercy of reliving and realizing his bricks. Other maintain that this is merely a reflection of how he's viewed himself his entire life, as the immobile plaything of the world's ills, a victim tossed about from one injurious incident to another. Although "the Trial" is largely about him overcoming this presumptuous perspective, he still does not break free from the grasp of his burdens until the end of the song when his wall is torn down. In a way, he still is the plaything of his bricks until he destroys them. He has been created and shaped by the people in his life and the feelings he represses and so he is continually acted upon by these very factors until he finally acts. As we'll see later in the sequence, he still is tossed around by his memories / bricks up until the time of the wall's destruction, which is perhaps his first true action in the entire movie.

The ensuing trial is depicted as a showy theatrical number much like it is on the album. The courtroom, complete with stage lights, is more of an arena than a house of law, just as the prosecutor is more like an actor than a lawyer, putting on makeup and dancing around the stage. Once again, the social implications are fairly blatant, equating the judicial system with public spectacle (mob spectacle, perhaps) rather than a means of justice. Accordingly, the worms of decay slither into the arena and form the judge's stand, the "Worm, your Honor" himself represented as a giant, serpentine wig.

With Pink probably basing his reflections of the schoolmaster on the rumors recounted in "Happiest Days of Our Lives," the teacher falls from the top of the wall as a marionette controlled by the ruling hand of his "fat and psychopathic" wife. After the teacher feeds the students into the meat grinder of a school, crushing and reforming them into uniform worms (here a symbol of decay cause by the oppression of certain kinds of education), the cycle of violence is once more portrayed as the wife beats her husband, the teacher, who in turn beats the Pink rag doll. The teacher then turns into a hammer, a visual form of destruction and oppression, as he finishes his attack on Pink.

Similar to the doll who is maligned by the witnesses / bricks, Pink now portrays himself as a leaf that turns into a man, then back into a leaf, blown by the winds of his wall. He is still inanimate and without volition even in this form.

His wife slithers from under the wall, turning into scorpion like creature reminiscent of Pink's hallucination in "Don't Leave Me Now," which stabs the motionless doll before morphing into a distorted symbol of grotesque femininity, an amalgamation of breasts, legs, and vagina. Though Pink comes to realize his accountability in their failed marriage, he still portrays his wife in the same negative way he does the other witnesses. After all, this is the brick that she created out of her infidelity. No matter how guilty Pink is concerning their failed relationship, her subsequent actions still created an emotional wound within Pink's mind, a wound which in turn became this particular brick of whorish womanhood. Building on this male chauvinist idea of womanliness (yet another part of Pink's shadow), the mother bursts from the wall as a fighter plane (perhaps also representing the father's war-related death) prior to changing into a giant, vaginal mouth that grabs Pink with an umbilical cord and pulls him back into the mother, back into her arms where she thinks he belongs. For the darker, repressed side of Pink, women are either injurious through their immorality or oppressive through their neurotic guardianship. Correspondingly, both ideas of womanhood add to Pink's bricks, just as the mother herself turns into a wall, enclosing Pink within.

As Pink sings of his lunacy a second time, a faceless man falls through the sky, breaking it into innumerable shards and revealing the blackness underneath. The image is metaphorically similar to that of "Goodbye Blue Sky" as the limitless dreams of youth are broken, exposing the hollowness of adult life. But at the same time, the image is redolent of Jung's theory of individuation, with the tumbling Pink straddling the realms between his light side (the sky) and his shadow (the darkness underneath).
From a symbol of decay to one of judicial incompetence, the worm judge turns into what art director Gerald Scarfe succinctly calls "a giant asshole," representing what "many people think about the law" (DVD commentary). He is both a very imposing as well as a very comic figure, roaring his verdict like thunder while simultaneously, and excuse the pun, talking out of his ass. Considering that "the Trial," for all its frivolity, is a highly significant turning point in Pink's life, it might seem odd to portray the judge as such a dichotomous character, one who is both serious and farcical. However, this duality speaks volumes about the absurdity of both personal and societal isolation. While the creation of the wall and Pink's subsequent journey towards self-discovery and individuation is a weighty topic, one with numerous individual and social implications, the very reality that one can become so self-absorbed and intentionally detached is equally absurd. Simply put, to think that life revolves completely around one's self is as ridiculous as the thought of a giant talking ass.

After his wall encloses him when the verdict is announced, images from Pink's life, the visualization of his bricks, flash onscreen as the crowd repeatedly chants "tear down the wall." He is reliving each moment that has led him to his current state: his fascist persona, his marriage, the wife's adultery, the teacher molding the schoolchildren into Ideal Citizens, the hammers, the hate rally, the wartime implications of the German war eagle, the groupie, the rat, the doctor injecting drugs into his arm. Each image is a mere flash in a seemingly endless barrage of injuries, all of which fade to reveal Pink's enormous wall spanning the entire screen. It finally explodes over Pink's screams (of pain? Triumph? Both, in the realization of his freedom and vulnerability?), with the bricks tumbling through the air before the screen is obscured by clouds of white dust. Although one could argue that this dust, similar to the white fog into which the soldiers march in "the Thin Ice," symbolizes Pink's death at the collapse of his massive creation, I tend to view it in a more positive light. The color white, usually a symbol of innocence and truth, coupled with the subsequent fade to the children in "Outside the Wall," leads one to believe that the dust is Pink's enlightenment and the purity regained through the destruction of the wall. After a life filled with oppression and corruption, Pink has finally been reborn.