The Trial is one of Kafka’s most renowned works, published posthumously by his friend Max Brod. The novel offers a symbolic exploration of Kafka’s awareness of the unconscious mind. It presents a powerful conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind, where Joseph K. is caught in a web of accusations and court proceedings that seem to exist both in the real world and within his mind. As K. attempts to navigate the complex bureaucratic systems, it becomes clear that the trial he faces is not just a legal one but also an inner psychological battle. K. fails to understand his situation because he lacks any real understanding of how the bureaucratic system functions. Instead, he becomes trapped within his own thoughts.
Kafka builds a surreal and unsettling atmosphere in the spaces associated with the court. It is like a dream sequence where nothing follows logic. In one scene, K. visits the painter Titorelli, who tells him that the court has offices everywhere, even in the attic above his studio. It makes Joseph K. feel trapped and helpless. From the beginning, we see that K. might feel guilty deep down, even if he doesn’t admit it openly. K. wants to appear as a respectable person in front of society. He wants to protect his image and prove his innocence. From the moment he is arrested, K. is constantly being watched. K. begins to move from thinking of the trial as something external to seeing it as something internal—about how he sees himself. But mostly, he still believes that if he just follows the rules, the court will declare him innocent.
Kafka believes that guilt is the most dangerous moment in a person’s journey. Even though K. tries to use logic to protect himself, he can’t fully control his instincts—especially his sexual desires. Whenever he interacts with women, he becomes emotionally vulnerable and distracted from his trial. This leads to a sense of guilt. Although K. does not openly confess that he is guilty, he starts thinking about whether he has done any wrong in his life. This shows how guilt affects the human mind. Over time, he unconsciously accepts that he is guilty, which leads to his tragic end.
K. is caught between wanting to make sense of the system and losing his grip on reality. Though he seems calm and rational on the outside, his mind is disorganized and filled with psychological pain. Signs can be seen in his everyday life. He stops performing well at work and loses interest in anything other than his trial. K.’s failure lies in his refusal to learn from his past experiences. Early in the novel, we are told that K. doesn’t care much about learning from past events. He tries to act rationally and fix his mistakes later on, but fails because he never truly changes. He surrenders to the law without proving his innocence.
In psychoanalysis, there is an important moment when a child realizes they have to stop being close to their mother. This causes feelings of loss, guilt, and shame. Freud and Lacan state that the law helps in this separation. In the novel, K. has a safe and respected job at the bank, but suddenly he’s arrested—an event that mirrors the child’s difficult separation from the mother. He feels lost, ashamed, and confused.
K. knows deep down that denying his sexual desires might be the only way to escape this torment, but he refuses to accept this. He hears the voice of guilt within himself, but he ignores it until it’s too late. According to Lacan, every person is a split subject. This means there’s always a gap between who we are and who we wish to be. In K.’s case, he sees himself as a respectable man, a person of value. But in reality, his actions don’t match this image. He goes to a prostitute every week, tries to force himself on Fräulein Bürstner, keeps clients waiting at work, and sleeps with Leni, his lawyer’s maid. He never admits his guilt, but deep down, his unconscious knows. Even though he tells himself and others that he is innocent, his inner voice—his unconscious—knows otherwise. The court hears that inner voice, which accepts his guilt. It doesn’t need to catch him doing something wrong. Instead, it responds to the guilt that already exists within him.
When he goes in search of the court, the guard says that the court is drawn to guilt. So he assumes that the court must be on the staircase he chooses because he feels guilty. Joseph K. isn’t really being punished for a crime. He is being pulled into a system that feeds on the unconscious guilt every person carries. Kafka reveals a terrifying truth: that in modern society, you can be found guilty not for what you have done, but simply for being flawed and uncertain—as every human is, unconsciously. So everyone is guilty.