In Kafka’s “Before the Law” reveals  a sense of control. Here we have a citizen who is trying to make his way past the gate but is having a hard time getting through. When people attain a a certain position in life especially of authority, it somewhat  reveals their personality. There is a deep routed issue with some authorities over using their power feeling they are better than the citizens below them. The gatekeeper watched this man suffer and repeatedly  denied his request . It is unclear the reasons why his request was overturned for all those years but from a readers point of view shows a man of authority taking advantage of a powerless man. For example (Kafka Before the law pg 19) The gatekeeper says, “If it attempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition. But take note. I am powerful”. The gatekeeper uses his power as a way to control the situation by scaring the man. This shows that as much effort as you put in to succeed , sometimes you can’t win. The man was near death and gave up almost everything however the gatekeeper didn’t  want to make him feel like he was a failure because he got a personal gain. This indicates a form of bribery that happens all the time especially in the governments. Unfortunately, this is what it came down to. The gatekeeper had control over this situation.

In Kafka’s “Before the Law”, he deliberately chooses to be extremely meticulous with his word choice. Not only does the interaction between the gatekeeper and the man reveal a power dynamic, but also the exact words they use. For example, when Kafka first introduces the man from the country he says, “To this doorkeeper there comes a man from the country who begs for admittance to the Law” (Kafka 1). Not only does Kafka make it so that the gatekeeper is the one who stands their ground and stays in place, but he says that the man from the country begs for admittance. This immediately gives the reader a notion that the gatekeeper has the power in this interaction. After the man asks for permission to enter but is rejected, the gatekeeper tells him that “If you are so strongly tempted, try to get in without my permission. But note that I am powerful” (Kafka 1). By threatening the man, not only is Kafka once again implying that the gatekeeper is the one in charge here, but he is also revealing the weight of the Law. When the man decides to wait instead of entering without permission of the gatekeeper, it shows that he is a follower of the Law.
The concept of power is extremely prevalent in this text. There is a hierarchy that can be seen with the common man being on the bottom, the gatekeeper above him, and the Law above both of them. Kafka uses this dynamic to reveal how authority rules and most people are slaves to the people above them.

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.

I don’t think the law is meant to represent the literal law(the government). I think the law represents the law of life and the man represents the individual who must navigate though life.  Each gate past the initial gate symbolizes the obstacles an individual has to overcome in their lifetime.  The gatekeeper tells the man, “from room to room, stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other.”  As in life,  there are obstacles a person has to face, each more difficult and challenging than the one before.  Like the gates to the man, the individual in life always has a challenge to face, with more to come after.  When the gatekeeper steps away from the gate, the gatekeeper’s warning stops the man from going any further.  In life, warnings often deter people from moving past their obstacles.  Toward the end of the man’s life, the gatekeeper reveals to the man that the entrance was assigned only to him,”Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you.”  Each individual has their own obstacles to face and it is only up to them,whether or not they overcome them.  Had the man known this, he may have gone past the gate instead of just seeing through the gate when it was first opened by the gatekeeper.  In Before the Law, Kafka teaches the lesson that one must take control of their own life by going through their gates and instead of asking for their gates to be opened, but to open their gates themselves.

Kafka describes a man in “Before the Law” who shows up in front of the Law and its gatekeeper. The man requests entry into the law, however the Gatekeeper prohibits him from going in. This does not discourage the man, for he continues to try to peer inside the gates. Seeing this, the Gatekeeper steps aside and tells the man that he can go through the gates, but warns the man that he will be met with stronger gatekeepers. The man decides that it would be better if he waits until the Gatekeeper gives him permission. While doing so, the man observes the Gatekeeper for long years. Finally, the man grows older and his eyesight weakens, but prior to his death, the Gatekeeper sees that the man is dying and closes the gates.

A concept I see in “Before the Law” is power demonstrated by the Gatekeeper. The man that approaches the Gatekeeper is passive and never once in all the years forcefully tries to gain entry to the law. Instead, seeing the Gatekeeper’s authority, the man chooses to wait for the Gatekeeper to give him verbal permission to enter. The man demonstrates complete submission to the Gatekeeper’s authority. Although he questions and observes the Gatekeeper’s actions, the man instead chooses to spend his entire life waiting for permission rather than physically try to gain entry. We can see that the passive nature of the man eventually leads him to die without him gaining entry to the law. Perhaps we can say that obeying the Gatekeeper’s authority is more important to the man than finding out what he really wanted.

In Before the Law by Franz Kafka one of the main themes is the hierarchy of power. From the very goal of the man trying to get through to meet with the law we begin to see a hierarchy of power form. One of the points is how the hierarchy is formed even though we aren’t able to see any of it. When the man comes to the gatekeeper to be let in, all we are able to see if the gatekeeper there and we learn that beyond the gate lies the law. The first thing we are able to notice here is that there is a definite barrier between the people and the law.  Even when the man attempts to look through the gate, he isn’t able to see if there is anyone there in the hierarchy. The interesting part is what all the different pieces are able to represent. The way I understood it, was the law was accessible to everyone, yet they are unable to understand it like modern day law. In this metaphor the gatekeeper would act as people who interpret the law for everyone and translate it to everyone else. This can be seen in the line of “If it tempts you so much, try it in spite of my prohibition.” The gatekeeper is telling the man that he would be able to see the law and speak to it, yet he would be met with resistance in trying to do so. This is showing the disconnect of those who are working within the law system and those who are only allowed to “see” the law.

While reading Kafka’s Before the Law, I couldn’t help but notice the parallels that this mysterious and mighty “Law” has in relation to G-d. I consider myself a religious modern-Orthodox Jew, so many religious themes that was taught to us throughout the 14 years of Jewish education recurred to me while reading this particular piece.

The primary and most obvious instance of The Law’s representation of G-d is the ‘hype’ that surrounds it. The man from the country clearly highly respects the Law since he asked permission to enter in the first place. Also, the gatekeeper informed the man that the Law is ‘protected’ by many other gatekeepers and that although, “[he is] powerful. [He is] only the most lowly gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other.” (19) I believe the gatekeepers can also symbolize G-d’s angels/messengers who are also spoken about in Judaism as being powerful and close to G-d.

Another example of the Law/G-d analogous is how Kafka tends to refer to the Law in a singular way. The man from the country never seeks to confront a particular law, or a sector of the law, rather he prompts the notion that the Law, like G-d, is as one. This resembles the monotheistic approach that is so prominent and significant in Judaism.

Subsequently, Kafka brings in the idea of accessibility and omnipresent. The man claims that “the law should always be accessible for everyone, he thinks” (19), while there is also the assertion that one ought to be able to reach to God without any prerequisites spoken about in religion.

The strongest case, and my personal favorite is the theme of free will that is suggested in Kafka’s tale. To the reader, it was remarkable that the man had so much self-control to literally wait a lifetime for even the opportunity of entering “before the law”. The Torah, (Jewish bible) is often considered the book of Law, or a Jew’s guidebook to living life. The Torah consists of hundreds of rules, and thousands more that Rabbis later added on (known as Halachot). A Jew is supposed to abide by those laws in order to live a good life. Many of them are ridiculous and make absolutely no sense however, we follow them because there is a sort of fear, and reverence, and love that we have towards our G-d—just like the countryman has towards the Law. Free will is something that only we have control over. We can choose not to listen to G-d, to just walk into the gate and follow that temptation. If we do, nothing would really happen. It is something of sublime, of unknowing and of power that is characterized in both the Law and in G-d that creates this fascinating correspondence.

In Before The Law, Franz Kafka depicts the gatekeeper’s power as a looming barrier to the law.  The story begins with the words, “Before the law sits a gatekeeper” which means the gatekeeper is either sitting in front of the law, or he is sitting behind the law.    If the gatekeeper sits in front of the law, he is a physical barrier guarding the law and preventing the man from the country immediate access.  If, however, the gatekeeper is sitting behind the law, his power takes on extended meanings.

What I understood was that there is a possibility of there being the gate, the law in the middle, and lastly the gatekeeper.

If this is the case, the power the gatekeeper wields could be viewed as “above the law” and is multiplied because he’s able to exercise tremendous power over the man within the gates.  When the country man asks the gatekeeper for entry, the gatekeeper never rejects him.  Instead, he postpones the entry.  The first time, the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment.  In order to grant entry, the gatekeeper must be allowed by someone else – but if, under this scenario, he considers his power above the law the gatekeeper could just be feeding the country man a bunch of lies.  In fact, he proceeds to mock him when he sees the man bend over to see through the gate.  Laughing, he says “If it tempts you so much, try going inside in spite of my prohibition.”  Of particular importance are the words “my prohibition” – not the law’s.  This reinforces the possibility that the gatekeeper is bluffing up to this point and there is no such threat of other powerful gatekeepers.

Literally, “Before the law sits a [singular] gatekeeper.”

Towards the end, the country man even gives the gatekeeper all of his valuables to win him over.  This act can be understood as bribery to authority figures who care more about the appearance of law, rather than upholding law itself.

Kafka’s “Before the Law” provides interesting insights regarding the concepts of authority and power in society in the 20^th Century and can be applied to how society is shaped today. In my opinion, I believe that the man from the country represents how people deal with their goals and ambitions in society today. The gatekeeper represents the barriers that people face to achieve their ambitions and can be a numerous number of things depending on the individual’s unique life circumstances. The last line of the passage was “Here no one else can gain entry, since this entrance was assigned only to you. I am going now to close it” (20). Everybody is going to face their own unique set of challenges in life to try to achieve their dreams and goals. However, usually others will tell them that their dreams or ambitions are unrealistic or a figure of authority whether it be their parents or another agency will stand in their way. The man from the country didn’t even attempt to get past the gatekeeper because of the possibility of facing more gatekeepers in the future who were even scarier than the first gatekeeper. He wasted his whole life just waiting to get permission from the gatekeeper when in reality the gatekeeper was never going to yield and give him permission. People must take initiative and face the challenges that prevent them from reaching their goals head on or they will end up like the man from the country and ponder about what could’ve been if they tackled their challenges and conquered them to reach their goals.