Parable of the gatekeeper

Parable

The parable "Before the Law" appeared as an independent publication as early as 1915, during Franz Kafka's lifetime. In his novel The Trial, it is inserted into the chapter "In the Cathedral”. There, the prison chaplain tells K. about the gatekeeper of the law and the man from the country who wants to get admission to the law. The parable forms the core for understanding the novel, because we might be able to draw direct conclusions about K.'s situation from it. While the novel illustrates the social and individual conditions that lead to Josef K.'s downfall, the existential aspect is illuminated in the parable of the gatekeeper.

K. meets the prison chaplain in the cathedral. The chaplain accuses K. of "seek[ing] too much help from others" (In the cathedral, 67%). K. denies any guilt. To demonstrate to K. that he is mistaken in the nature of judgment, the chaplain tells him the story of the gatekeeper of the law: "‘You are deceiving yourself about the court,’ said the priest. ‘In the introduction to the Law it has this to say about being deceived: ‘Outside the Law there stands a doorkeeper etc.' " (In the cathedral, 72%). 

Afterwards, K. and the chaplain set about interpreting the parable. In the process, it becomes apparent that the interpretation of the parable can be extended ad infinitum, since it can never be clearly understood. This circular movement is directly related to the other circles in the novel, in which no development takes place (see Structure). 

The parable is supposed to explain how K. is mistaken about the judgment. In doing so, however, it eludes any clear interpretation. The plot of the entire novel is concentrated here. In view of the absolute withdrawal of the narrator, who never explains or comments on anything, the parable has the task of interpreting the events of the novel. This is made possible by the fact that there are obvious parallelisms between the parable and the events of the novel. 

The prison chaplain tells K. the parable to make it clear to him that he is mistaken ...