Albert Einstein has said, “Kafka is too much for the human mind to grasp”. There are many fascinating short stories that lend themselves to a myriad of interpretations, stories such as ‘The Metamorphosis’, ‘The Country Doctor’, and ‘The Burrow’. However, many of his main themes and concerns appear in condensed albeit recondite form in his short parables, in particular in ‘Before the Law’ and ‘The Imperial Message’. To quote the definition, a parable is a short allegorical story designed to teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson. What exactly are the truths and moral lessons that Kafka is imparting in these two brief works? ‘Before the Law’ is a scant two pages and ‘The Imperial Message’ is barely one.
In ‘Before the Law’, a man from the country arrives before the Law and prays for admittance from a gatekeeper, who replies that admittance is possible, but not at this time. The man thinks that “the Law should surely be accessible at all times and to everyone.” Years go by and the man sits there waiting for admittance. As he nears death, he asks a final question. How is it that he is the only one seeking admittance to the Law? The reply is, “no one else could ever be admitted since this gate is only for you. I am going to shut it now.” This very brief story suggests a myriad of questions, the first being what exactly is the Law? Are we speaking in terms of religion? Is it God? Or, does it represent our society? Our parents? The government? What else might it represent? Other questions then immediately insinuate themselves. Are we always before some version of the Law? What does the doorkeeper/gateway represent?
What does it mean to be “outside” as opposed to “inside”? Is it not only about admittance, but also acceptance, as well as the idea of permission? Do we always strive for something that is beyond us, forever inaccessible, like the Castle is for K, in Kafka’s last unfinished book? We do live in a world of prohibitions and restrictions, where the concept of permission is central. We never understand why admittance is so important to the man. For whatever reason, and most likely he does not understand it himself, he seems to have wasted his life hoping to pass through the gate. The French literary critic Hélène offers some interesting perspectives. She suggests “the law cannot be defined.” “The law is in the man, so how can he enter the law?” The law represents a divided desire in the man, since he desperately wants but needs permission.
In ‘The Imperial Message”, a dying Emperor entrusts a message to a messenger intended for a man who awaits, “the humble subject, the insignificant shadow cowering in the remotest distance before the imperial sun.” The parable is addressed to this man. However, due to insurmountable obstacles, the messenger is unable to reach him. The story ends with the enigmatic rejoinder to the waiting man. “But you sit at your window when evening falls and dream it to yourself.”
In what sense are the parables similar? Perhaps knowledge and salvation are possible, and we can try to approach them, as long as we understand we will never reach them. It may be the case that the Emperor’s wisdom lies within him in the same sense that the law is within the man. This brings to mind a quote from Gerald Murnane. “Everything is possible except, of course, the actual.”
(It should be noted that there is a longer version of ‘Before the Law’ with much more detailed philosophical discussion between the man and the gatekeeper, but I prefer this gnomic version.)
in The Complete Short Stories and Parables, Quality paperback Book Club, New York, 1983
A Personal Anthology 