Misconceptions In Kafka's Before The Law

In his works, Kafka delineates the confusions and dilemma of people in this modern world where traditional morals and norms have been overthrown whereas new laws have not yet been set up. Every one of his works is unique in their writing style and techniques yet they all together constitute a distorted irrational world in which Kafka shuts himself and dwells. Through his works, rather than communicates with his readers, Kafka intentionally avoids being understandable and exposed to his readers by setting up obstacles and traps. Even though he reifies his abstract ideas, which is a common technique in Kafka’s fictional works, his muffled words and flowing thoughts still make his works impossible to be fully understood by the public. But readers …show more content…
The countryman in Before the Law, instead of choosing to enter the law by himself, decides to wait outside the door for the admittance from the door-keeper. The door-keeper, as an incarnation of the law, represents an authority which has supreme power over the countryman and influences his decisions. He thus decides to devote all his time and resources to getting the admittance, to trying to break through the door-keeper’s veto rather than doing other things that might grant his access, be it living out his life according to the principles of the law or exercising his free will to enter the door. As a result, this countryman fails to experience self-emancipation but subverts to the power oppressed on him in the power hierarchy that he himself does not even …show more content…
The reason why the door is meant for the countryman yet he fails to enter it is precisely related to his incapacity to exercise his free will to enter the door. As time goes on, his attention seems to be distracted from the law itself, and shift towards the door-keeper, so he brides him, “The man, who has furnished himself with many things for his journey, sacrifices all he has, however valuable, to bribe the door-keeper” (Before the Law 145), and even beg the fleas which can be seen as a substitution of the door-keeper, “he begs the fleas as well to help him and to change the door-keeper’s mind” (Before the Law 145). Forgetting the law, he become obsessed with the door keeper. Therefore, as he executes, he easily falls into the trap----focuses too much on the obstacle----the door-keeper, rather than the law, same as Mr. K falling into the logic of guilt as trying to defend himself of