Before the Law is an eye opening story about how the law is almost untouchable by the common man. The man from the country comes to the gate–the entry to law–and tries to get in. There is a gatekeeper in the way, however. The gate keeper, no matter how much the man begs, sticks to his restricting words and orders. He threatens to send the man to higher authority; this scares the already rebellious man into just sticking with bothering the first guard, only. He wastes away his whole life at this gate, trying to get into the place that is so untouchable. He has faith in himself that he can get into this place, but sadly, it’ll always be out of reach. He stays wondering why no one else from the country is trying to rebel like he is–perhaps everyone else has just learned to live under the laws that dictate society without the thirst to be limitless.
The higher authority wants to dictate the lives of the civilians by imposing restrictions on them, without any care about the true wellbeing of the civilians. This guard was told to keep people out of the gate, and he did so, without caring about the fact that the man’s life basically wasted away while he was waiting and waiting for the freedom to walk into the law. The law, however is untouchable, and those who work under it cannot live for themselves. The guards waste their lives away guarding a gate, without any incentives. The only incentive they get is to have some power and authority–and for some reason, the power is worth it. All the man asks for is power over his own self. All the man wants is to be free and go wherever he desires, but power over others is much more common in this world, than a civilian’s freedom and power over his or her own journey.