Guilt is a powerful feeling. It frequently shapes our character and actions. It is human inherent aptitude to fear being judged. and denial is an built-in inclination. Franz Kafka’s The Trial opens with an thought of guilt and artlessness. “Someone must hold slandered Joseph K. . for one forenoon. without holding done anything incorrect. he was arrested” ( Kafka 3 ) . This debut ab initio implies to the reader that Joseph K. is guiltless. However. as the novel unfolds. and we are given more. yet limitless information. the reader’s construct of K. ’s artlessness displacement. Though we ne’er find out what he did incorrectly. K. ’s guilt becomes more present with each wining chapter. The repeating subject of guilt manifests itself often throughout the novel onto Joseph K. ’s interior scruples and faith. Joseph K. seems to be a lucky adult male. By his thirtieth birthday. he is a successful executive at a booming bank. knows many adult females. and lives in a nice hostel. When two work forces he has ne’er seen earlier come to collar him. his universe is turned upside down. One of the work forces is named Franz. which was possibly done intentionally by Kafka.

K hunts for his designation documents. which he has problem happening. and while making so. Franz gives him a “long and no uncertainty meaningful. but inexplicable. look” . and K. finds himself gazing back ( Kafka 8 ) . After this. Franz explains that the tribunal is knowing plenty to non necessitate any designation documents and that the Law provinces. the tribunal is “attracted by guilt and has to direct [ us ] guards out” ( Kafka 9 ) . After this. he is allowed to travel about his life as he did earlier. and is expected to go to enquiries about his instance. This minor scene sets the tone for the court’s impending presence on K’s life. It is a prefiguration of K’s test and being a captive to the tribunal. The character of Franz should non be overlooked. as the name was chosen for a ground. every bit good as the last name K. Possibly Kafka portrayed himself through the character Franz. Franz translates to free adult male. which he most surely is non. Those who work for the tribunal are captives. and have no freedom.

When K. faces Franz in a curious stare. it symbolizes the minute from when K. goes from a free adult male. to a guilty captive. He searches for his individuality. his artlessness. but can non happen it in that minute. The tribunal knows guilt ; it senses it in K. When he goes to his first enquiry. he doesn’t state anyone where he is traveling decides to walk. so no 1 else can be involved. non even a cab driver. This individual action indicates guilt. non seeking aid or maintaining things to himself shows that he has something to conceal. K. has problem happening the tribunal. and when he sees the different stairwaies and waies to acquire at that place. he starts to recognize the state of affairs. He remembers what the guards told him and recognizes that “the enquiry would hold to be located off whatever stairway K. chanced to choose” ( Kafka 39 ) . When he walks in and announces that he is at that place. one half of the room applauds him. Loving this attending. he seeks the blessing of the other half for the continuance of the enquiry.

This symbolizes his interior scruples. One side is stating him that he is right. he is guiltless and he is in the right mentality. K’s demand for the blessing from other side of the room that is quiet and unimpressed is a direct mark of denial and guilt. When we know we’ve done something incorrect. we go out of our manner to deny it and turn out it to the non-believers. He gives a address on his unfair and flawed apprehension and puts the guilt on the tribunal. alternatively of himself. When the scourger is penalizing the guards. he tries to halt it. but is excessively focused on the late-night workers in the bank happening out what is traveling on. The following twenty-four hours. his guilt over the guard takes over his head. He goes out to run into his co-worker but can non halt believing about being monitored by his work. Even at the minute of his hindering decease. K. does non accept licking. For the remainder of the novel. the tribunal has resided in K. ’s head. He is nervous. fearful. and dying ; these are all marks of guilt. We ne’er find out what precisely K. did incorrect but through the narrative of the novel and K’s come oning ideas. we know he is guilty.

The apposition of subjects of guilt and faith is unusually prevailing throughout The Trial. Joseph K. ’s faith is non straight mentioned in the novel. but it is clear that this is something of a battle for him. Religion is non something limpid and straightforward for anyone ; there are complicated factors and it is non ever touchable. Right from the beginning. the tribunal presented itself with a cryptic atmosphere. go forthing K. with inquiries and uncertainness. From an important position. K. feared the tribunal. The tribunal was everyplace. and had control over everyone. and this was something K. learned rapidly. Shortly after his apprehension. K. eats an apple. one of the most common scriptural symbols. This short piece of information is the perfect debut to the tribunal ; the tribunal is the tree of cognition that K. believes he has innocently become a portion of.

The first enquiry is held on a Sunday. which could either reference that it was common to hold a public test on a Sunday forenoon. and the big crowd would non be go toing church. or implies something deeper. In this novel. the church is the chief faith. It is all knowing and powerful. Before the initial enquiry. K. looks for the tribunal and finds that it is in a cryptic. about unapproachable location. However. the tribunal has the ability to look anyplace. from its offices in any flat of the slums or a room in well-known bank. after hours. In the scene with K. and the sermonizer in the cathedral. it becomes clear that the tribunal has authorization over the church. K. and the priest. who cryptically mentioned that he summoned K. to the church. hold a conversation about guilt. When they portion ways. he finds out that the sermonizer is another captive to the tribunal.

It seems that in this novel. the tribunal represents God. Much like the tribunal. the presence of God is non something that can be escaped from. It is mentioned many times that the tribunal “senses” guilt. Once K. appreciation this thought. it is clear that he starts to fall apart. Those from which he seeks aid from can non assist him ; it is up to himself merely. K’s anxiousness and sense of guilt throughout the novel is displayed among many spiritual subjects. K. spends the entireness of the novel. one twelvemonth of his life. denying his actions and certifying to his artlessness. and his wickednesss are left a enigma. Kafka’s purposes throughout this novel are clear. This test that K. goes through is a test of his life. of his character. that reflects back to Franz Kafka himself. As mentioned in category. Kafka grew up in a sacrileges place. His male parent despised Judaism. despite coming from a strong line of descent of Rabbis.

Subsequently on in his life. Kafka embraced his heritage and took it upon himself to larn more. There is no uncertainty that Kafka felt some kind of guilt during his life ensuing from his upbringing. He besides suffered from societal anxiousness. K. ’s character is a manifestation and illustration of Kafka’s guilt. Possibly if the novel was finished. we would hold learned K’s wickednesss. However. the enigma of K’s guilt makes the novel more powerful. The backwards procedure of this tribunal system. declaring K. guilty and predetermining his penalty is a contemplation of Kafka’s life. He starts his life being guilty. sacredly and self-consciously. but unlike K. . finally reverses his guilt and takes action. K. is the representation of what Kafka could hold been. and fortuitously did non go.

Plants Cited

Kafka. Franz. The Trial. Trans. Breon Mitchell. New York: Schocken Books Inc. . 1998. Print.

Miller. Matthew. Class Lecture. Magic Realism. Stern College.