- Summarize what you think Kafka is saying here about the law (and, where necessary, explain why you think that is what he is saying).
- Explain why you think he uses a parable to make his point.
- Respond to the parable.
- Relate it to Antigone, explaining how it applies to the play
I feel like Kafka isn't actually speaking of the law as in rules over a country, but rather it's him trying to describe the way humans tend to put their lives on hold because they're scared. We can literally see happiness and adventure right in front of us (the glowing beyond the gate in the story) but we only ever long for it because our anxieties, fears, and irrational thinking (portrayed by the gatekeeper) tend to get in the way. We waste our lives waiting for that fear to allow us happiness instead of fighting past it to get to what we want. I'm sure others would take it differently, but this just stood out and seemed on point to me.
I feel like when a writer uses a parable, it's to make their point seem more extreme. They use it to drive their idea home. A parable takes more thinking, more digging to uncover the truth, and once you get there, it's a profound thing. I think that parables allow the reader to have some wiggle room in the reading. There's a general idea that Kafka wanted to get across, but how the reader takes that is up to them. I feel like Kafka wanted the reader to have that personal connection to what he was trying to say.
I kind of already responded to the parable above, but here we go. I think that it's just really sad, honestly. The guy spent his entire life waiting for the day that he could enter the gates, but never trying to get through on his own terms. I don't understand how you would be content just letting a situation be like that for years upon years. How do people not even want to ATTEMPT to follow their dreams? To reach out towards what they want? Do they even really want it that bad, if they're not willing to make a stand for it?
I think this relates to Antigone in two major ways:
1) Antigone stood up against the law for what she felt was right. Her brother was not going to get the burial that he deserved and that sucked. So she went above the law, stood up for what she believed in, and did it herself, not caring what the consequences would be.
2) Unlike the man in Kafka's parable, Antigone didn't stop what she was doing simply because the law said so. Antigone didn't let her fears stop her from finishing what she started. I'm sure she was very scared at some points in the play but she didn't stop because of it. She didn't put her life on hold like the man did simply because the "law" (the king) said to. She pushed through and won, eventually getting the burial for her brother that he deserved.