"Before the Law" - Immigration, Goals, and Psychology

“Before the Law” by Franz Kafka is about a man who is trying to get to the other side of the gate but cannot due to there being a gatekeeper. The guard doesn’t let the man cross because he claims that there is a process that needs to be complete before doing so. However as time goes on the man begins to become old and impatient, so he tells the guard he will find another way. The guard then says that there are many other guards more powerful then him, so that even if he can’t stop the man other obstacles will get in the way of the man from crossing the gate. The story then finishes off with the man, closer to death, asking the gatekeeper why there has been no one else attempting to cross the gate and the gatekeeper responds that this gate was only made and intended for him specifically.

When reading “Before the Law” with the readers-response theory it can be perceived differently in many ways since we all read with different interpretations, but for some one relation that is made is that it is about immigration. The first sentence that Kafka wrote that backs up this theory is saying, “To this gatekeeper comes a man from the country who asks to gain entry into the law. But the gatekeeper says that he cannot grant him entry at the moment.” To me it seemed this way because it was the first thing that came to my mind when reading this story because it is a current issue going on in our world today. The gate can be viewed as the border, the man can be viewed as the immigrant, and the gatekeeper can be anything (border patrol, the lengthy process, the government) stopping the immigrant from crossing. Kafka also wrote, “The gatekeeper often interrogates him briefly, questioning him about his homeland and many other things.” When an immigrant goes through the process of crossing into the United States one aspect is getting questioned. These individuals will get question by individuals who work for the government about almost anything and everything. From questions of why an immigrants wants to become a part of America to what they did last week, various questions are always asked. For the ones who cross without going through the process, which the man claimed he would do at one point, they end up facing obstacles which can be harder than waiting. However for a different reader they stated that they interpreted it as a way of reaching goals. Every goal has a gate. The person is yourself and the gatekeeper is the obstacles. After completing one goal and getting through one gate there are many more because goals can be endless, some are little while others are big. However, trying to ignore goals or moving on to the next without finishing the previous can cause problems for the future goals.

    Some readers will read this story with theories other than the reader-response, one being Psychological Literary Criticism. Some may believe that the author wrote it due to some specific urge or thought they had in their mind at the time. The writer can be the character and the gate can symbolize a feeling for the writer. A gate is usually to keep things in or out of something. The gate to the writer may be that they feel trapped and they know there is a way to get out but the “gatekeeper” seems to be stopping them.  However it can also have the same sort of an affect on the way a reader reads the story too. For instance a reader can have anxiety or often times feel alone so when the see that the story is about a man who can’t cross a gate, their mind might begin to think of being trapped or to oneself since the man never saw anyone else other than the gatekeeper. Kafka wrote, “When the gatekeeper notices that, he laughs and says: ‘If it tempts you so much, try it in spite of my prohibition. But take note: I am powerful. And I am only the most lowly gatekeeper.  But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other. I can’t endure even one glimpse of the third.’” Reading what the gatekeep said makes it seem that no matter how far deep a person can see or tries to go they cannot escape. It is similar to an endless cycle which is something a person may feel when writing or reading aspects like this is a story.