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Individual Complacency and a Failed Life in Kafka's Parable "Before the Law"

In this analysis of "Before the Law" by Franz Kafka, the student locates a warning against a wasted life. The student argues that the man's complacency dooms him to failure, whereas challenging the doorkeeper would have motivated his personal growth and prepared him for the next obstacle.
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This essay received a B by one of Kibin's paper graders. Click here to see what was done well and what needs improvement.

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This essay received a B by one of Kibin's paper graders. Click here to see what was done well and what needs improvement.

More essays like this:

parable, obstacles in life
Not sure what I'd do without @Kibin
- Alfredo Alvarez, student @ Miami University
Exactly what I needed.
- Jenna Kraig, student @ UCLA
Wow. Most helpful essay resource ever!
- Chris Stochs, student @ UC Berkeley

View other essays like this one:

Bridget's feedback:

"Your essay demonstrates your close work with this gnomic text, grounding the claims in the details of the story and moving logically alongside the plot, as it were. In terms of structure, I recommend breaking up your long body paragraph to help guide the reader's experience. I'd also like to suggest working a little further with the opening paragraph, which is currently rather nebulous, in part because the pronouns switch between "one" and "their", creating some confusion. I also recommend streamlining the writing: I suspect sentences 2-4 could be boiled down into a more succinct expression of the same ideas.

I'm interested in your semi-inspirational read of the parable, a mode one doesn't necessarily associate with Kafka. There is nothing wrong with a unique take, but the challenge becomes working against the dominant analytical trends: the argument must be built up with that much more care. My concern is that the claims about what is beyond the door drive your interpretation; however, little is actually specified in the text itself about what comes next. Spend a little more time building this up so the reader can head into the conclusion persuaded."

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