BEFORE THE LAW -Kafka

The very title of this short piece by Kafka is one that made Derrida pose the question: Is the man trying to gain admittance into the law or into a place where law exists? The phrase, ‘Before the Law’ is circumstantially significant with respect to the situations and conditions of common man before the advent of law.
Throughout the story, Kafka tries to induce into the reader, a sense of empathy for the man standing before the law, the gates of which are guarded by a keeper, whose hands in turn are vested with the power to grant or prohibit one’s entry into the law. How does such immense power come to be concentrated in the hands of a mere gatekeeper? If one draws parallels between the gatekeeper and the law, this theme can be expanded to incorporate questions regarding the immensity of the power of law. Simply speaking, the obedience of law is the reason for its authoritative power. This can be inferred from an ironical situation depicted in the story, when the gatekeeper, who does not permit the man entry into the law till his dying day, declares to him that the gates were for him and only him to enter. By way of explanation, the irony of the situation stems from the fact that the man who was meant to and could have gained access to the law, fails to do so due to the power of the gatekeeper, who assumes the same as a result of the man’s bemoaning but unquestioning obedience.
The magnitude of the power in the hands of the gatekeeper potentially tails a debate on the vulnerability to corruption of those who hold the reigns of supreme authority. The gatekeeper misuses his authority and prohibits the common man’s access to law, clearly disregarding his right to seek refuge under the umbrella of a law that should be accessible to one and all. Throughout his life, the common man waits endlessly to gain entry into the law, uses all his