Blog Post 1, option 1

Our group chose the Marxist criticism for “Before the Law” by Franz Kafka due to the obvious authority exhibited by the gatekeeper and the class struggle that occurs between both characters. Within the first few lines the gatekeeper announces to the man trying to gain entry that “…I am powerful. And I am the most lowly of the gatekeepers…” which emphasizes the social status and order with the lowly man from the country having no authority compared to the gatekeepers. In addition, Kakfka makes it apparent that the gatekeeper has superior material possessions such as a black fur coat that gives him higher class. This sets up the whole dynamic of the rest of the story, because the stratification of class becomes solidified between the two. The man from the country thinks that the law should be attainable by everyone yet he still decides to wait until he receives the gatekeeper’s approval. This emphasizes the gatekeeper’s authority and is consistent with the concepts of a social class hierarchy with the lowly man submissively and blindly accepting the rules given to him from a more powerful man. 

            Another reading that could be assigned to this story is the psychological reading, making the law that the man wants so desperately to enter more of an internal struggle than a class struggle. The gatekeeper mentions that there are more gatekeeper’s inside which hints at the layers of one’s mind where the first gatekeeper is the conscious, the next is the subconscious and the third is the unconscious. The man has to overcome some problem within himself yet he must go through all of the mental barriers in order to find the solution. The gates are open yet the man chooses to have the mental gatekeeper stop him from overcoming his setback. He gives away everything to the gatekeeper yet he never can get through because he is so focused on the first layer instead of going deeper into the subconscious. At the end of the story the gatekeeper states that "...this entrance was assigned just to you...",  which emphasizes the personal aspect of the struggle because only the man can understand or access the gates to his own mind. The man dies without entering the gates, meaning that he is never able to overcome his inner battle and the gate closes with his last breath furthering the idea that the gates are internal. 

      Both critical readings of the story have value yet the Marxist one surpasses the psychological because of the idea of the glass ceiling in the class system which is represented by the gates. Each gate opens to a higher status in society and the gatekeeper has more authority because he guards the gates to increased wealth and the idea of upward mobility. The man gives away all his valuable possessions to the gatekeeper in order to gain entry but ends up dying before he is able to enter the law. The whole time he strives to move up and is given false hope from the gatekeeper and continues to hit the glass ceiling. I believe that this interpretation makes the Marxist reading significant because there are many more details within that allude to power and class struggle than that of an internal struggle, especially with the glass ceiling explanation. The psychological criticism is less consistent due to the reader response aspect that could have different interpretations of the psychological innuendoes of the gates in the story, with the gatekeepers being material factors and not mental. The Marxist criticism is straight forward and is even more useful because it applies to society and the independent reader whereas the psychological is more particular and not as universal.