Franz Kafka's short story "Before the Law" tells the story of a man who wants to have access to the law. He tries to do so by walking up to the first of many gates that guards this law, however the gatekeeper does not let him through. And so, the man waits, but his access is never granted. In terms of structure, the story can be seen in a simplistic manner. Kafka uses this method to convey the ambiguity related to the theme of political, religious and philosophical law. With no particular setting, the plot is universalized, therefore becoming applicable to any time or place, as the reader is only introduced to the two main characters by their titles "the man" and "the gatekeeper" and their surrounding is also left unnamed, such as the man's "homeland". The use of vague vocabulary through words such as "inextinguishably" and "indifferent," contributes to the mystification of the term "law" and creates a problematic access to knowledge. Therefore, "Before the Law" lies at the heart of Kafka's writing as a definitive statement on his version of the human condition in the form of a parable, it explores the idea of a physical being standing before a concept in which he is forbidden to access. The self is therefore denied the freedom to access knowledge and cannot ignore it – trapped with no answers. .
The hierarchy of power is shown through the levels of gatekeepers, as the gatekeeper states that he is "the most lowly gatekeeper. But from room to room stand gatekeepers, each more powerful than the other" (Kafka, Metamorphosis and Other Stories, page 197). Politically, this can convey the bureaucracy of any given government system in the sense that the rooms represent each government organization and the gatekeepers represent the amount of power each organization has, as each is "more powerful than the other.