Before the Law
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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“Everyone strives to attain the Law,' answers the man, 'how does it come about, then, that in all these years no one has come seeking admittance but me?' The doorkeeper perceives that the man is nearing his end and his hearing is failing, so he bellows in his ear: 'No one but you could gain admittance through this door, since this door was intended for you. I am now going to shut it.” |
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"Before the Law" (German: "Vor dem Gesetz") is a parable contained in the novel The Trial (Der Prozess), by Franz Kafka. "Before the Law" was published in Kafka's lifetime, first in the New Year's edition 1915 of the independent Jewish weekly Selbstwehr, then in 1919 as part of the collection Ein Landarzt (A Country Doctor). The Trial, however, was not published until 1925, after Kafka's death.
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Plot summary
"Before the Law"
A man from the country seeks the law and wishes to gain entry to the law through an open doorway, but the doorkeeper tells the man that he cannot go through at the present time. The man asks if he can ever go through, and the doorkeeper says that it is possible but "not just yet" ("jetzt aber nicht"). The man waits by the door for years, bribing the doorkeeper with everything he has. The doorkeeper accepts the bribes, but tells the man that he accepts them "so that you do not think you have failed to do anything." The man does not attempt to murder or hurt the doorkeeper to gain the law, but waits at the door until he is about to die. Right before his death, he asks the doorkeeper why even though everyone seeks the law, no one else has come in all the years. The doorkeeper answers "No one else could ever be admitted here, since this gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it."
In some English translations of the original German text, the word "Law" is capitalized. It is important to keep in mind, however, that this is the prerogative of the translator who might wish to focus attention on the myriad connotations of the word beyond its simple juridical meaning; for example, in religious (law as moral or divine law) or psychoanalytic (Freud's "Law of the Father") contexts. In the original German, the capitalization of the word Gesetz ("Law") reflects a standard adherence to the rules of German orthography, which require that all nouns be capitalized, and does not necessarily have wider significance.
In The Trial
Josef K has to show an important client from Italy around a cathedral. The client does not show up, but just as K is leaving the cathedral, the priest calls out K's name, although K has never met the priest. The priest reveals that he is a court employee, and he tells K the story (Before the Law), prefacing it by saying it is from "the opening paragraphs [introductory] to the Law." The priest and K then discuss interpretations of the story before K leaves the cathedral.
References in works by other authors
The parable is referenced and reworked in the penultimate chapter of J.M. Coetzee's novel Elizabeth Costello.
Jacques Derrida's essay of the same title examines the meta-fictional aspects of the structure and content of Kafka's fable, such as the placing of the title before the body of the text and also within the first line of the text itself. Derrida incorporates Immanuel Kant's notion of the categorical imperative as well as Freudian psychoanalysis in his reading of Kafka's fable.
