The readings on Existentialism didn't really aide me in reading Kafka's "Before the Law" or the game of the same name by Brandon Brizzi mostly because I read them from a more Marxist point of view. I chose to see a focus more on class then on anything related to Existentialism which might be due to my previous close studies of the different school of literary theory. Once I read Sarte's works and reflected back on Kafka's story and Brizzi's game I can see how Existentialism aides in providing an answer to why the"country man" never gains the knowledge of the law. The "country man" does not think for himself and in the story he wastes away waiting for permission to gain access to the knowledge he seeks, he makes no active effort to go against what he is told by "the gatekeeper". In the game you are given an additional option the story does not afford - the ability to think for one's self and go against "the gatekeeper's" warning and proceed forward, however once the book of law is found the "country man" sees that there is nothing in it - it's blank. I also found this to be a part of the ideology of Existentialism as a person can't just find the answers but must work to find the answers themselves; there is no magic book, only the individual can find for themselves the knowledge they seek.
Existentialism is hard to define and is rather dense and complex. While reading Jean Paul Sartre's works on the subject the one take away I found was the idea that "existence precedes essence," which is also hard to define but what I gathered from it is best defined in the realm of the gaming world - as it is just too vast an idea for me to grasp in a real world capacity - a game is created (it exists) but the game is nothing until an a person (essence) plays it. This I found to be one of the issues I had with existentialism - it is just too confusing. According to this ideology I am a individual, with my own thoughts and sense of being, but how I define myself is still based on stereotypes, social and cultural influences, and many other external factors, so it begs the question - Am really an individual, defining myself by my own choices and decision, when I can only define myself within the limitations previously set? I really don't have an answer but I think existentialism is grander in thought then in practice.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
"Before the Law" Game vs Story
Franz Kafka's "Before the Law" and the game of the same name, shows how destructive inaction can be in one's life. The overwhelming feeling achieved by this short story was of wasted opportunities due to an inability to take actions based on one's own convictions. An image that stood out for me was the fur coat of the gatekeeper and the focus on the man being from the country. It seems by placing those seeking knowledge as the "country" folk and the ones in control of the knowledge as the fur lined "gatekeeper" that Kafka is also speaking to how the rich control knowledge not allowing those they deem unworthy to gain knowledge.
By playing the game I was given the option to control the "country man" and at first I followed with Kafka's story-line and waited, receiving a similar ending as in the story but added with it was the game creators commentary on the wastefulness of this waiting, inserting himself into not only the game but also supplying a voice missing in the short story. The alternate ending allowed me to be in control of the Kafka's story, supplying a conscious voice to a flat character of the "country man". By allowing the player to have control one can subvert the gatekeeper's purpose, choosing instead to break through the doors keeping knowledge at bay. Unfortunately the ending advises that no knowledge is to be found as the book of law is empty - no words on the page. This ending is perverse as one would hope to have gained some sort knowledge from the game-play but as with Kafka's piece and the other ending - there is no happy ending for those seeking knowledge; either they die from waiting for the knowledge to come to them or they find out the what they were seeking was a ghost, something that was never real to begin with.
By playing the game I was given the option to control the "country man" and at first I followed with Kafka's story-line and waited, receiving a similar ending as in the story but added with it was the game creators commentary on the wastefulness of this waiting, inserting himself into not only the game but also supplying a voice missing in the short story. The alternate ending allowed me to be in control of the Kafka's story, supplying a conscious voice to a flat character of the "country man". By allowing the player to have control one can subvert the gatekeeper's purpose, choosing instead to break through the doors keeping knowledge at bay. Unfortunately the ending advises that no knowledge is to be found as the book of law is empty - no words on the page. This ending is perverse as one would hope to have gained some sort knowledge from the game-play but as with Kafka's piece and the other ending - there is no happy ending for those seeking knowledge; either they die from waiting for the knowledge to come to them or they find out the what they were seeking was a ghost, something that was never real to begin with.
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