Blog Post #1

Though critics have struggled for decades to interpret the ending of Franz Kafka’s “Before The Law”, many are in agreement that one must use the Marxist approach when analyzing this text. This story tells of a countryman traveling to a gate and asking the gatekeeper for entrance to the law, until eventually the countryman must accept defeat and dies. The gatekeeper warns the countryman, “‘I am only the most lowly gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other. I can’t endure even one glimpse of the third’” (Kafka). Right from the start, the text affirms how a clear power dynamic exists between the countryman and the gatekeeper, with the former man inferior to the latter man.


Kafka portrays the idea of divisions in economic structures in this reading, and no matter who the gatekeeper represents, we the readers are led to believe the gatekeeper possesses all of the riches and security while the countryman possesses nothing. The poor countryman believes the gatekeeper’s claims to power and vows to give anything to the wealthy gatekeeper to gain access to the law. This system creates a social wall between the countryman and the gatekeeper, where each following gatekeeper is more wealthy and, subsequently, more authoritative. Though hesitantly, the man demands entrance to the law; each request is met with rejection. Marxism teaches this exact idea of the powerful oppressing the weak, making this approach a well-founded manner in which to read this text.


Another way that we can interpret the text is by using the psychological approach. Perhaps the gate represents a mental barrier, and the countryman purposely chooses not to dethrone the gatekeeper due to fear. The countryman is aware that the first gatekeeper is only the lowest gatekeeper, signifying the most lowly insecurity of the man. With each gate comes one mental battle after another, and the man consciously decides it is better to live with his insecurities constantly in the background of his mind rather than fight to eliminate his fears. We also observe this when the man contemplates how ridiculous it is for him to stand by for admission to something so simple, but “as he now looks more closely at the gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside” (Kafka). The countryman becomes intimidated by the gatekeeper, and realizes submission might be the key to his success.


We question later whether the gatekeeper has any real power over the countryman, yet the countryman subjects himself to his loose rule since poverty has made the countryman desperate. Years go by without any progress for the countryman, and it appears he has completely forgotten about the succeeding and more controlling gatekeepers: “this one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law” (Kafka). This represents how mental battles take charge of an individual in the same way, becoming so intense and overbearing until they render a person useless. The countryman’s own mind has caused him to lose track of what really matters to him: getting to the law.


A psychological approach undoubtedly makes sense to use in deciphering “Before The Law”, but a Marxist approach is far more direct and applicable to the story as a whole. From the first meeting of the countryman and the gatekeeper, we understand the countryman might one day be allowed to come into the gate: “‘But not now’” says the gatekeeper (Kafka). We watch the countryman spend his entire life waiting patiently for the all-powerful gatekeeper to grant him access to the law, until the countryman is in his final moments. We notice something rather peculiar here--the countryman has become feeble and weak while the gatekeeper remains young and healthy. As the countryman waves to ask the gatekeeper one last question, “the gatekeeper has to bend way down to him, for the great difference has changed things to the disadvantage of the man” (Kafka). This establishes the inequity of economic status in terms of old age--the poor are doomed to shrivel and die while the rich have access to more resources which prolong their life. The countryman’s last memory on Earth is realizing his destiny was predetermined by his social class and success was never in his favor. Analyzing these socio-economic structures in the form of literature furthers our comprehension of global economic strifes and fabricates a sense of empathy towards those less fortunate.