Kafka's theme in "Before the Law" is that the pursuit of
meaning is often endlessly difficult and, in the spirit of existentialism, it is an
individual struggle. Existentialism means "existence precedes essence." You exist and
then develop your essence, what is essentially you: beliefs, desires, wants, fears,
etc. You are not predetermined to "be" anything. You make yourself. Thus, you are
responsible for making yourself as it is an individual quest. With that responsibility
can come anxiety because you are alone in that
struggle.
There is an allusion to the gates of heaven here,
but Kafka is speaking of granting entry to meaning, knowledge and truth. Kafka also sees
bureaucracy as mimicking the existential quest for truth. The "law" represents meaning
but also, analogously, the man-made systems (law, government, politics, academia, the
aristocracy or owning class, etc.) which claim to create, sustain and categorize things
like truth and knowledge. These systems also tend to keep others out. Often, being
granted entrance into these groups is as difficult as discovering meaning; especially in
an existential outlook, which means it is an individually responsible and usually uphill
battle. It is up to him/her to go through the open gate.
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