Reader-Response Theory in Kafka's "Before the Law"

Charlie Lavaroni
English 10C
Professor Fountian
9 April 2017
Reader-Response Theory in Kafka's "Before the Law"
Reader-response theory is more applicable to Franz Kafka's short story "Before the Law" than a Marxist reading of text, given the story's ambiguity, the gaps in concrete narration, and the seeming allegorical universality of text. Marxist criticism however, does have merits within the context of class separation and ornamentation of characters, and the importance of material goods within the story, although reader-response is a more appropriate critical mode.
The story itself is purposefully ambiguous and is set in almost a timeless space which reinforces a reader-response interpretation is most useful. Kafka firstly, does not set the story in a specific moment in time, but entrenches the story in an ambiguous time frame opening simply with: "before the law sits a gatekeeper" (Kafka). Note the present tense verb of "sits"- this story is not in some historical period or specific moment in the past but is rather actively unfolding in the present moment. Beyond the vagueness of physical space Kafka is also ambiguous in his characterization. Kafka denotes the protagonist as a "man from the country" without tying him to any specific nationality or political affiliation (Kafka). This lack of specificity of character illuminates how Kafka's uses this story to serve a universal message, furthermore, using ambiguity as a tool to serve that purpose.
A corner-stone of reader-response critical theory are gaps in narration which the reader must fill in in order to weave together a coherent and cohesive narrative thread, there gaps are prevalent throughout the law and further support a reader-response interpretation. Some of the gaps include: what does the law represent; what does the man wait an entire life-time to ask a question; and where is the story placed? These gaps invigorate the reader with an active position, constantly filling in these gaps and "help solidify the text's meaning" (Gardener 175). Reading, especially in the context of Kafka is an active process which unfolds as the reader connects and fills in more gaps as they read.
The third reason for a focus on reader-response theory is the universality of the story which frames "Before the Law" in an allegorical mode. Quotidian time melts into a lifetime: "there he sits for days and years" (Kafka). Time itself and the narrative coherence that corresponds with a linear plot are not existent given the ambiguity of the passage of time. Moreover, Kafka strips the characters of any specificity and instills them with universality, naming them simply "the gatekeeper" and "the man from the country" (Kafka). There are no regional, national, or physical descriptors that deflect this universality. The universality also helps create a myriad of meanings and interpretations with which readers may garner from this text. Kafka's purposeful obfuscation of specific details allows readers to have multiple interpretations, supporting reader-response theory.
Furthermore, Marxism is a different critical approach which still resonates within "Before the Law". The first reasons for this critical theory also being applicable is the class separation and slight ornamentation of the two characters. While Kafka's leaves much of the man's character ambiguous Kafka does describe him as from the "country" while the gatekeeper wears a "fur coat". This description displays a class separation between the two subject positions. One subject is lowly and lacking agency and also a countryman. The second, the gatekeeper, is decked-out in a bourgeois ornament (i.e. the fur coat). This distinction of class is prototypical in the Marxist approach and colors thee interception of the story to be predominately snout the struggles of the proletariat. Moreover, this manifestation of economic criticism shows how socio-economic factors and inequalities produce these two kinds of stock characters.
Secondly, the focus on the importance of material goods also frames "Before the Law" in a Marxist lens. Kafka's describes how the man "spends everything, no matter how valuable, to win over the gatekeeper" (Kafka). This piece of description entrenches the importance of possessions and commodities in this narrative. The man literally spends all of his resources and gives all of his goods to the gatekeeper. This moment illuminates a parasitic pseudo-captialist relationship between the two characters. The lower-class proletariat give practically everything for the sake of the bourgeois with nothing in return. There is a certain futility with this gesture, the man has nothing else to give but that which he owes, including his life.
However, the reader-response is still a more useful approach over the Marxist interpretation. This is mainly in how the gate itself is individualized to the man from the country. This Kafka-esque individuality of access to the gate then strips the story of the class antagonism and suggests that perhaps the allegory is not steeped in issues of class. Furthermore, the gatekeeper never ages which gives him a universal omnipresence which creates discordance in the Marxist approach. Reader-response is a more useful criticism in relation to "Before the Law" because of the ambiguous nature of the story and how that vagueness informs a multiplicity of interpretations which correspond with individual readers unique experiences.