Kakfa, Marxist Criticism Vs. Psychological Tendencies

While reading, “Before the Law” by Franz Kafka, all alone and with my own understanding, I came to the conclusion that the short passage was based off the Marxist criticism approach— it also seemed to be agreed on by the people in my group. However, after a few more times of close reading and reflection, I can also recognize a psychological literary criticism approach being used.

            The Marxist criticism approach is more obvious throughout the passage because of the requirements that the passage must meet to be considered within the Marxist criticism approach. The three reasons I chose the Marxist criticism approach are because Gardner mentions, “For Marxist critics, then, literature was just another battleground, another venue for the ongoing quest for individual material gain” (P. 169, Gardner). This is evident early on in the passage and continues throughout the passage with the country man’s interest in “gaining” access to the law and then he becomes fixated on being able to get past this gatekeeper. Another aspect that Gardner presented for the Marxist criticism approach was, “human interactions are economically driven and that the basic model of human progress is based on a struggle for power between different social classes” (P. 169, Gardner). Throughout the story there is a human that is struggling and making interactions with someone to gain power and the struggle is evident. The struggle between a man who seems to have the power over the entry of the gate and then a man who thinks that he is not allowed to go across the gate because of the presence and the power that is presented by the gatekeeper. Gardner continues with saying, “Literary characters could be divided into powerful oppressors and their powerless victims…” (P. 169, Gardner). Kafka’s two distinct characters show the differences in power held by both characters. The gatekeeper, although never specifically saying or describing him as powerful, has the “power” to keep the country man from entering. The country man, described as nothing much more than a man who comes from the country can be seen as powerless. The Marxist criticism approach seemed to be the one that made the most sense at first glance; with the idea of power and the greed one has as a human.

            However, after close reading and reflection, I found myself thinking about the psychological theories approach.  As I re-read the passage I felt as if my brain was being picked and played with. Gardner mentions, “Freud popularized the notions that the mind can be divided into conscious and unconscious components and that we are often motivated most strongly by the unconscious” (P. 173, Gardner). That phrase stuck out to me because the whole encounter of the gatekeeper and the country man seem to be a sort of fantasy, maybe a dream. The only description we get of the gatekeeper can be seen as a reference to the devil, which one may associate within their nightmares (unconscious). “The gatekeeper in his fur coat, at his large pointed nose and his long, thin, black Tartar’s beard, he decides that it would be better to wait until he gets permission to go inside” (Kafka). As I mentioned earlier, the description given is what one associates with a devilish figure and it can put fear in a person’s mind—the fact that the gatekeeper feels that it is better to get permission rather than barge through, demonstrates that there is fear within the man. It can be taken as a psychological approach to defer the man’s conscious desire of power and his subconscious fear taking over. Another example of subconscious fear or caution can be experienced within the following lines of the passage, “He forgets the other gatekeepers, and this one seems to him the only obstacle for entry into the law” (Kafka). The man’s strong desire for the law is put, slightly, to the side because he feels that the only obstacle is this man who is a bit scary and seems to be powerful, without the man even trying to seize entry by force. Instead, the man allows for the man’s appearance to be what helps him decide on whether he wants to seize the law or if he will diminish his desire for power and allow himself to do the bare minimum of asking for permission. Then, the story progresses with the country man growing old, but the gatekeeper seems to be keeping this concrete age and image. It makes the reader wonder if this whole ordeal about entering and accessing the law is all within the subconscious of the country man.