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In an entirely different qualitative sense, this post reminded me of the short story by Kafka, Before the Law. I won’t paste the whole thing here, but it’s a re
by keiferski 6mo ago
In an entirely different qualitative sense, this post reminded me of the short story by Kafka, Before the Law. I won’t paste the whole thing here, but it’s a really short read:
https://homepage.univie.ac.at/st.mueller/kafka_english.html https://homepage.univie.ac.at/st.mueller/kafka_english.html
An article on the story: https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hd11/BeforeTheLaw.html https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hd11/BeforeTheLaw.html
- CamelCaseName 6mo ago[flagged]
- keiferski 6mo agoHere is a longer article on it: https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hd11/BeforeTheLaw.html https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hd11/BeforeTheLaw.html
- throw4847285 6mo agoKafka would find your attempt to explain his story with AI hilarious.
- quietbritishjim 6mo agoThanks for the interesting read. But, I have to say, I didn't understand it at all.
- bombcar 6mo agoYes, it was very kafkaesque. (I also didn't get it.)
- awesomeMilou 6mo agoExcercising your rights is a duty, responsibility and experience that is individual to everyone.
- gilleain 6mo agoYes I thought at the start it was about how our expectations of how the law works are at odds with the reality So the gatekeeper is the system keeping us from Justice - mostly money, but also other less tangible barriers. In theory, everyone gets a lawyer, in practice some people can afford expensive ones. Then the end twist got me confused.
- nemomarx 6mo agoThe end twist makes me think it's about an individual attempt to learn and understand the law, but I'm not sure what the inner gatekeepers would represent there. Something about how we want to understand The Law, capital letters, but then there's only systems we make ourselves and understand ourselves would feel properly Kafka, I suppose. But you think that would be mapped to journeying towards some kind of Law?
- jonhohle 6mo agoI’m in the middle of using the courts to get State Farm to make me whole. Even at the small claims level, the law and procedures are stacked against the non-lawyer. There is an obvious power imbalance and it’s exploited because most won’t ever make the effort to even try, and those that do will be buried with so much work as to not make the pursuit worthwhile. The story seemed pretty accurate.
- brazzy 6mo agoKeep in mind that the story is actually embedded in Kafka's "The Trial", and discussed by two characters within that story, who have very different views of its meaning. I think it is very deliberately written to be impossible to "understand". If you think you have found its clear and unambiguous meaning, you're wrong.
- lkm0 6mo agoKafka (who apparently had a great sense of humor) seems to really enjoy writing people who die from too much second guessing. In the trial, K. keep failing by attempting to outplay the system at every step, because he thinks that he can stay above it all (don't we all). It's what you might call an awfully credible idiot plot.
- implements 6mo agoI wondered whether K’s original crime was being “the sort of person who would express excessive pride before the law” - a Minority Report style “Contempt of Court”. Or was it originally just mistaken identity?
- lkm0 6mo agoI've always been wondering if the crime matters at all. A lot of people say that going through a trial, even as a victim, is a punishment; it's the process that counts (hence "der prozess"). Perhaps the lack of a stated crime reflects that we the general public never fully understand under which specific provisions someone gets locked up. And so the actual deed may have been done before K. was born, etc.
- implements 6mo ago> A lot of people say that going through a trial, even as a victim, is a punishment … “You can beat the rap but you can’t beat the ride” (rap being the charge and ride being the whole process from arrest to acquittal: time, money and emotional trauma)
- dmbche 6mo agoBig thanks this was a wonderful read. Maybe I'll get The Trial today, I tried The Castle and didn't like it but y'know
- keiferski 6mo agoPersonally I like Kafka’s short stories more than his novels, so I’d look for a collection of those first. (And The Trial too.)