Guilt In Kafka's The Trial

For my final essay, I will focus on guilt as presented in Kafka’s The Trial. Guilt plays a pivotal role in this book as it seems to consume Kafka’s protagonist, Josef K. Throughout the novel, reader’s witness Josef K. transform from respected banker to a distraught and eventually dead man who’s guilt seems to have consumed his life. Initially, Kafka describes K. as a well-respected person that should have few worries. Initially, K.’s coworkers, landlady, family, and friends all seemed to possess a great deal of respect for K. K. also seemed to view himself with ample respect and little to no guilt. Kafka displays this within the text in many ways. First, readers learn that K. initially has little guilt because he believes that the opening arrest was simply a joke put on for his birthday by his colleagues from the bank (Kafka 7). Kafka also articulates that Frau Grubach – K.’s landlady – views K. as her “best and dearest lodger” (18). Later, readers also learn that K’s Uncle had …show more content…
finds himself in a Cathedral. K. planned to meet an Italian businessman here, but the businessman never shows. Instead, K. finds himself in the dark, mysterious church being called out to from the priest. Although this entire chapter holds significance to the story, one passage in particular caught my attention. Kafka writes, “You are Josef K.,’ said the priest, raising one hand from the pulpit in a vague gesture. ‘Yes,’ said K., thinking how freely he used to say his name in the past. For some time now it had become a burden to him, and to introduce oneself first and only then to be known” (151). This passage suggests that K. feels quite a bit of guilt when regarding himself and his own name. This passage also displays that the court has a significant sway over the events occurring in K.’s life. K. believed he was meeting a business associate, but rather, K. ended up stuck in a church with a priest that has connections to the