35 ms·
Before the Law stands a door-keeper. A man from the country comes up to this door-keeper and begs for admission to the Law. But the door-keeper tells him that h
by kafkaesque 13y ago
Before the Law stands a door-keeper. A man from the country comes up to this door-keeper and begs for admission to the Law. But the door-keeper tells him that he cannot grant him admission now. The man ponders this and then asks if he will be allowed to enter later, 'Possibly', the door-keeper says, 'but not now'. Since the door leading to the Law is standing open as always and the door-keeper steps aside, the man bends down to look inside through the door. Seeing this, the door-keeper laughs and says: 'If it attracts you so much, go on and try to get in without my permission, But you must realise that I am powerful. And I'm only the lowest door-keeper. At every hall there is another door-keeper, each one more powerful than the last. Even I cannot bear to look at the third one'.
- xyzzy123 13y agoThis man was kidnapped and tortured without trial. I did not downvote you, but somehow I feel that your comment does not do justice to the plain reality of the situation. Which is decidedly not allegorical and not abstract at all.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- michaelgrafl 13y agoI think what Kafka here is trying to do is pointing out the absurdity of reality. I see no reason for downvoting.
- kafkaesque 13y agoHave you read The Trial? Josef K was arrested basically without trial, as well. In fact, I read this article and I see many parallels to the novel by Franz Kafka. The reason I quoted it was because the following (from the article) reminded me of it: "Latif sank deeper into depression and hopelessness as the futility of the legal efforts towards winning his freedom became clear. In one of his last letters to his lawyer he tells him: 'Do whatever you wish to do, the issue [of my defence] is over', and includes with it a message of farewell written both to him personally as well to the world at large: 'With all my pains, I say goodbye to you and the cry of death should be enough for you. A world power failed to safeguard peace and human rights and from saving me. I will do whatever I am able to do to rid myself of the imposed death on me at any moment of this prison... the soul that insists to end it all and leave this life which is no longer anymore a life'". Josef K thought the law was accessible and would protect him, because he was innocent--so there is nothing to fear, right? Wrong. The excerpt from above is taken from a central piece of The Trial--the parable "Before the Law", which was a conversation Josef K had with the priest. Franz Kafka studied law. He thought it was made to confuse the layman and that the law was not blind and balanced, as the statue so famously demonstrates, but rather has wings and shifts. Though The Trial is a work of fiction and Latif is a real man, when I first read this book, it helped me realise and gain more compassion towards those who have been treated unfairly by the law.
- xyzzy123 13y agoYeah, I have. I understand your point, but respectfully disagree. Analogies to The Trial produce a sense of crushing inevitability, whereas I believe the system can and should be changed.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]