Blog 4

Subject and self are intertwined. The subject appears as a result of circumstance whereas the self is preexisting yet at times is altered by subjectivity.
The countryman is representative of the cultural subject, always responding to the cultural dictates of the Law. Even in his avoiding the Law, through shielding himself from any rebuff possibly brought about by taking a stand, he is ultimately defeated by the dictates of the Law. Had he acted as a unique self, the countryman would have seen beyond the eminent threat of the law in order to be the threat himself.
It costs the countryman his life to keep safe from the influence of the law, as opposed to challenging it. The countryman is determined by the law in that the law is the reason for his stagnation and narrow minded approach to entering the gate.
Kafka suggests that self is a necessary category. In the story when the countryman has come to his end he asks why no one but him has tried to get passed this gate to which the gatekeeper tells him that the gate was made only for him. This detail shows the importance of self because beyond what we are subject to be, the outcome depends on who we are.