The article we read today, "Before the Law" today is basically a metaphor for the limiting rules that affect mankind, and how we never try to get above them. The story itself is a story about a man trying to get through a door. He constantly tries to get through a door, but the man in front of the door never lets him in. The men in front of the doors ask him questions, and he can't be let in. The man even makes many sacrifices to try to bribe the doorkeeper. The doorkeeper takes the gifts, but claims "I am only taking it to keep you from thinking you have omitted anything.". The door is "The Law", which to me seems like a metaphor for the rules that limit man and keep us from doing certain things. The man sits next to the door on a stool to try to be admitted. At the end of the story, the doorkeeper tells the man as he is dying that no one else could ever be admitted there and he was going to close the gate.
To me, this entire story is a metaphor. The guards of the doors are the man's limiting beliefs, keeping him from getting through the door. On the other side of the doors, the man's aspirations and goals lie. The idea is that some goals are unreachable no matter what you try or what you sacrifice. To me this says I should aim high because I'm never going to achieve my goals. Perhaps it's part of what tragedy is in general. Behind this gate were this man's goals. Perhaps not all of them, but certain goals that can't be achieved. Goals like love that lasts forever. Love is always broken apart by death or some tragic event.
In a nutshell, this story summarizes a theory on what tragedy is. The fact that nothing can last as long as we want it to. The greatest things in the world that we want the most come with limits and costs. This is the source of tragedy that keeps our world from being completely happy and carefree. That's what it means to me anyways. I think it's really sad that this man couldn't get through the door because he spent so much time on it and made so many sacrifices. It just shows you how futile and pointless your life can be if you don't get enjoyment out of little things that don't matter in the big picture. It indirectly explains to you how important that can be for your happiness