Marginalia
Scene · German-language

Before the Law

A man from the country asks to be admitted to the Law; the doorkeeper says “not now”; he waits his whole life — and learns as he dies that this door was meant only for him.

Where The Trial, chapter 9 ("In the Cathedral") In The Trial
∞ Guilt & Redemption∞ Power∞ The Absurd
✶ In the Atlas

Before the Law stands a doorkeeper. The door is open; the man could look in, but the doorkeeper says that beyond him stand others, each more powerful. The man sits on a stool for days and years, bribes the doorkeeper (who takes everything “so you won’t think you’ve neglected anything”), grows old, grows childish, begs the fleas in the doorkeeper’s fur collar to help.

Dying, he asks: everyone strives for the Law — how is it that in all these years no one else has asked to enter? The doorkeeper roars into his failing ear: “No one else could gain admittance here, since this entrance was meant only for you. I am now going to shut it.”

The priest who tells the story to Josef K. then argues with him about its interpretation for pages — itself a parody of commentary.

Lines to Remember

1 quotations
No one else could ever be admitted here, since this gate was made only for you. I am now going to shut it.
— The doorkeeper , The Trial · ch. 9, "Before the Law"
Context & when to use it

For missed chances, waiting for permission, the path only you could walk.

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