342
PARTISAN REVI EW
Way,
"onl y when it ceases to be a prop ."* The
key,
o f course, is not
merely a n obj ec t or a prop ; it is a lso a sign . lnterpre ta tion is a lso the
intercha nge of keys in some of the grea t schools o f modern gnos is:
the "prop key" is excha nged fo r the "key symbol. " But no t onl y keys
a re excha nged . As obj ec ts or props, doo rs a nd rooms a lso can be
symbolic signs, likew ise the cas tle
(das Schloss)
a nd the lock
(das
Schloss) .
T here a re two ma in symboli c or allego rical in te rp re ta ti ons of
K a fk a's world . Either the G ra nd Wa rde n who intercha nged the keys
is the Hidden God ,
deus absconditus,
or there is onl y the alien wo rld of
objects from which ma n has been estra nged , a nd no hidde n warden
ex ists. The parable a bout keys, like the keys themselves, is
excha nged fo r theological di scou rse or Hege li a n a nd M a rxist
di scourse a bout a lie na ti on . H oweve r , ri ght or wrong, whether they
fit or not, keys a re ma teri al a nd no thing can be done a bout that.
T he pa ra ble about keys is a situa tion based on a familia r ,
a lmos t uni ve rsal, experi ence. M os t likely, each o f us has rece ived ,
more tha n once, a key tha t did not fit the lock. Prese nted as a short
sto ry, the pa rable is a t once pla usible, lifel ike, a nd thea tri cal. Let us
imagIne the a nnu al conven tion o f the M ode rn La nguage
Assoc ia ti on . Three thousa nd pa rti cipa nts mee t a t one o f the huge
Hiltons. T he keys have been intercha nged a nd each o f the three
thousand schola rs sta nds befo re the door to hi s hotel room with a key
to a nothe r door.
Tra nsla ted into a lifelike a nd theatrical situa tio n , the pa ra ble
about keys is ridicul ous, grotesque, a nd absurd. Yet the symbolic
interpreta ti on o f thi s scene is a phil osophical di scourse, a n in sta nce
o f negative theology. We a re a lready in the wo rld o f Ka fk a's
Trial.
'You have studied the sto ry mo re exactly a nd fo r a longe r time
tha n 1 have,' said J ose ph K . toward the end of hi s encounter with
the priso n cha pl a in in the cathedra l. They were both sile nt for a
little while. T hen K . said , 'So you think tha t ma n was not
deluded ?' 'Don't mi sund ersta nd me,' said the pri est, 'I am only
showing you the vari ous opinions conce rning tha t point. You
mu st not pay too much a tte nti on to them . T he sc riptures a re
unalterable a nd the comme nts o fte n enough merely express the
commentators' bewilderment. '
•All the quotations from Kafka are from Willa and Edw in M uir's transla tions.
