Blog #4 Pg. 50

In this short story by Franz Kafka, I feel the main character is representative of both the self and the subject. The countryman, by his own free will, approaches the gatekeeper, and this leads me to believe the self is present. But, at the same time, when the countryman is told to wait, and does, the countryman has already subjected himself to the law, even before “reaching” it. The self cannot do whatever the self wants, but the individual has the choice whether or not he wants to sit on a stool his whole life. I feel Kafka is telling us through this story that as soon as we are born, we are original, or we have a specific gate to each of us. But also at the same time, as soon as we are born, we are “destined” so to speak, to be subjected to the gatekeeper, or the invisible powers that surround our laws.