Chapter 49 Reading Notes The Will of the Castle--Reading "The Castle"

The Belly Conquers the Brain--The Will of the Castle Experienced by K The will of the castle is never expressed directly, whenever it is, it is only reflected in the atmosphere of the village.It can't be said that it didn't express its will clearly; on the contrary, it showed it everywhere, but K, who was covered with a cloth, didn't quite understand this kind of expression. On the night K first arrived in the village, he began to test the will of the castle.The villagers telephoned to the castle to ask whether K was sent by the castle, and the answer was unkind.Castle first said that there was no such thing, which frightened K. Then he said that there was such a thing, which aroused K.'s hope, so that he further mistakenly believed that he had been appointed as a land surveyor.Then K himself spoke to the Castle himself again.He wants permission to go to the castle.He picked up the microphone, and there was a large buzzing sound in it, like singing from afar; at the same time, a single high-pitched strong sound was conjured up, and this strong sound wanted to penetrate into K's body; this was the true meaning of the castle. Answered, but K didn't understand, his brain was fighting against his belly. Although K did not understand, he never gave up his will out of instinct; he took a roundabout way, by deceiving the castle, so that the castle joined him, and thus received an answer that appeared to be a clear refusal.During these two phone calls, the Castle has already revealed many things: first, it will not recognize K's identity, allowing K to be a land surveyor with peace of mind; then, it immediately gives K some kind of hope, making K feel that he has accepted him The status is similar; in the end it refuses K to go to the castle, but that does not mean that K is not allowed to work for the castle.These responses are consistent with those magical buzzing in the microphone.That wonderful music that can never be really rejected or confirmed must have strongly infected K, so K had an idea, immediately came up with a trick to deceive people, and accidentally got in touch with the castle.Perhaps the Castle, satisfied with his initiative, sent him a letter by courier, thus strengthening his connection with the Castle.The content of this letter is of course essentially the same as those of the two calls, but the letter seems clearer and more hopeful at first glance. K's "misunderstanding" developed further.

However, after K got the letter, he carefully considered the statements in the letter.The letter is actually vague and contradictory.The writer of the letter seemed to regard K as an equal and free person, but also seemed to belittle him as a small slave, depending on how K understood it.As for his identity, the letter writer obviously didn't want to be sure, but pushed the work of determining his identity to K himself.The letter expresses admiration for K.'s courage, but at the same time it hints at the strict restrictions he will be subject to, the obligations he must abide by, and his status is extremely low in terms of this obligation.After analyzing the letter, K saw the difficulties before him and made the only possible choice.It is really strange that K, as a foreigner, can adapt to the vague expression of the castle, and every action grasps the core of that will. How is this unanimity achieved?Since K is not used to this strange form?The answer is simple: K's actions are not directed by the brain, but implemented by instinctive impulse.The castle kept posing him with difficult problems, and he could not move, but he just wanted to rush and never stop; and this instinct was just in line with the real will of the castle.Kramm's letter can be understood as: You have no hope, you can't move, but you must move, otherwise you will be abandoned by the castle. K understood Klamm's letter with his stomach, and his stomach and brain were two different things. What's in K's belly?There was only one impulse: to enter the castle.

K started to act, and immediately discovered that he encountered resistance from the will of the castle everywhere.At first he thought that the messenger could take him to the castle, but later he realized that this was just a deception he had set for himself, and the authorities could restrain his actions without giving orders.Then he saw greater hope in Frieda; he had tried so hard to find a way in his life with her, which proved to be in vain.The castle's will is arbitrary, but also gives K real freedom, prompting him to be "fooled" constantly.It was a pervasive atmosphere that always said "no" menacingly wherever K went.If it was an ordinary person, he would have been intimidated by this "no", but K was a special guy.Having said that, Castle's attitude when he said "no" was very ambiguous. It was not an ordinary "no", but he said "no" and at the same time asked him: "Is it really impossible? Why don't you give it a try?" What else can you do but try to make a foul?" Behind the superficial sternness is the inner connivance.This "no" is almost equivalent to "do your best to dance!" Of course, everything has a limit, and the gate of the castle cannot be entered anyway.But it's still a long way from that door.There was still plenty of time, and he could peep at Klamm through the small hole in the door for as long as he liked; he could also snatch Frieda from Klamm in order to bargain with him.It's just that K always forgets the "no" when he wins a small victory in the struggle; so someone reminds him, and all kinds of people take turns to say this "no" to him, constantly giving him that blindness. to strike at his rejoicing, lest he get too hot-headed, for there is a real trap where the ultimate goal lies.The castle has given such a terrible freedom to K, how will K exercise this freedom?Only a fool would revel in such freedom, and the calculating K saw the danger.There are no rules to follow, the situation in front of you is unclear, and murderous intentions are hidden everywhere. The official power is zero in name, but the actual power is everything.If K is not careful and looks forward and backward, it is entirely possible that he will be wiped out.Regarding his situation, the village chief gave further confirmation.

The village chief let K understand through his lengthy introduction to the official affairs that it was absolutely impossible to prove his identity.This is not to say that the appointment of K. was a trivial matter; The home of the village chief. K was not reconciled, and cited Kramm's letter as a testimony, saying that the castle had already acquiesced in his identity.The village chief points out to K the various contradictions in his understanding and tells him that this is only a personal letter and does not help in any way to confirm it.The village chief asked K to interpret Kram's letter with a correct attitude, instead of understanding it from the aspects that are beneficial to him.In the end, the village chief pointed out that his situation is: he can stay in the village and go to wherever he likes, but he cannot be sure of his identity, so he must be careful. K is stubborn, sticks to his original intention, and his stubbornness makes the village chief completely tired of him (probably pretended).Then K broke through the restrictions imposed on him by the village chief, and also broke through the obstruction of the proprietress' appearance and statement, and came to the VIP hotel recklessly, determined to wait for Kramm there, and he wanted to ask Kramm face to face.

What did he wait for in that snow-covered yard?Anxiety, nervousness, frustration, disappointment, and of course freedom, that's what he's been waiting for.It turned out that this was the freedom he had gained through struggle, the freedom he was waiting for, and he could wait as long as he liked, but the small door leading to the castle in front of him was not long.Klamm would come only when he was gone, and their encounter was doomed to be missed.But how could K not wait?Isn't the purpose of his life actually to wait?Constantly changing places, waiting again and again with hope, dividing one's life into sections to wait.At this time, K is much luckier than the country people in the book.This exciting, dizzying way of waiting is completely different from the loneliness, tediousness, and monotony of the country people, not to mention those moments of happiness in which one often hallucinates that one is a A real winner!At this time, K has become a lot more sophisticated and flexible, and it can be said that he is a bit unscrupulous.However, when he returned to the bar from the yard, he was ridiculed and taught a lesson by the proprietress.Here again the will of the castle is hinted at.That kind of contradictory expression, that kind of expression that makes people don't know what to do, and it's like saying nothing, the proprietress said it like a winding castle's will.Why can't the proprietress always forget to teach him a lesson without losing the opportunity?It is to motivate him not to stop his struggle.That was probably the only thing she cared about.When K suffered a crushing defeat, she appeared, ostensibly to help K sum up his lessons, hint at the direction of his future struggles and possible resistance, and moreover, to dispel his illusions.It is also doubtful whether she meant these things. K thought she was scheming, aimless like the wind, but in reality she was driven by an unfathomable force from afar, where secrets were hidden and never seen.She is the most proficient in castle affairs, and every time she preaches, she is using the duty of a megaphone.

After K's complete defeat, the Castle never forgot to give him some kind of compensation, perhaps to prevent him from getting depressed.For example, after making him wait in the cold courtyard for a long time, he sent Barnabas to bring him a letter in which Klamm praised his work.This incident shows that the castle is not refusing to contact him; the castle just refuses to deal with him directly at present, everything must go through a medium, and his wish can only be attached to the middleman.This letter also shows that instead of keeping away from him, the castle is pressing him very tightly.But what K saw in the letter was danger, that face that rejected people thousands of miles away; he had already had the experience of reading letters.He wrote back complaining about the castle, and continued to make that impossible request—to enter the castle.At this time, he also received an assurance from the messenger that he would definitely convey his request to the castle authorities. At last K rekindled a new hope.

Barnabas took K's letter and never returned. K tried so hard to get an answer from him that even Frieda was offended and left alone.Just as he was groping in despair, Barnabas came out from the ground again, and brought good news: the lower officials of the castle wanted to see him in person.Then came the great meeting, a half-dream meeting.That is the true realization of the will of the castle, and it is also the spectacle of belly overcoming brain, new fantasy over old and heavy memory, never-before-seen life over piled death. Instead of being interviewed, K broke in.In the middle of the night, the entire hotel has become a dream fortress, life and death are in the dream, and only in the dream can we meet.Of course, all this is the arrangement of the castle.In this intermediate zone, all boundaries are blurred, and only the desire to struggle forms waves, rolling forward wave after wave.The secular impurities are filtered out, and everything here is transparent. In this transparency, people just feel drowsy and unable to think, because they don't need to think anymore.Only in this kind of self-conscious dream can K meet the castle for a while;Such an adventure-like experience did not bring a sense of reality to K, on ​​the contrary, it showed him the complexity and elusiveness of the castle mechanism, the iron-like law that he did not know, and the powerlessness of man against this law.It was like a demonstration against K's heart.But K had seen the castle officials after all, and the unprecedented nocturnal inquiries had taken place, what else would not happen?Since "nothing" didn't scare him away, and "yes" couldn't overwhelm him, his play will continue.K, with his small and pitiful worldly wishes, encountered the riddle of the will of the whole human being; this kind of riddle can only be solved by the body, and any profound thought is powerless.And as K himself, there are always no answers but only experiences during the journey, including his purest experience with the official Beagle, the experience that brought the worlds of life and death together.The castle allowed K to go through untold hardships to reach this border area, and of course he would not return empty-handed; everything that should have happened happened, and the scenery in the dreamy fortress is magnificent and strange. Isn’t this what life is looking for?The question is to see if you dare to break in and experience it, to see if you dare to be the first person who has never been there before.

Immediately after the historic meeting was over, K fell from mid-air to the ground floor, and landed beside Pebby, who was lower than Frieda, and this was where the castle wanted him to stay.He will recover among the people he has already known, in the atmosphere he has already known; he will rise again and continue to rush towards the strange and illusory goal. Survival in Illusion--The Will of the Castle as Barnabas Experienced From Olga's mouth, K learned that the messenger Barnabas lived an inhuman and painful life.This pain also comes from the castle's unpredictable will.To sum it up in one sentence, the castle must suspend him in the air in all things, neither can he fly away, nor can his feet touch the ground.Barnabas was in a worse situation than K. K can still move within limits, while Barnabas' fate seems purely suspended.Only one thing is the same: their work is recognized by the surface of the castle.

The castle never gave Barnabas a real identity, but let him deliver a letter; promised him a uniform, but didn't send it out.Here we have encountered that vicious circle again. It is impossible to break through, and reasoning has no final result. All questions can only be asked and answered by ourselves.Who made him call himself a messenger?Circumstances compelled; why not put an end to this miserable situation?Because he chose the castle, and the castle chose him.Barnabas' useless situation made K very indignant, and he felt that Barnabas should resist fate, just like himself.But how could Barnabas act like K?The castle's requirements for a courier job are different from those for a K's job.Barnabas, as the messenger who transmits information between the castle and K, the castle requires him to sacrifice everything, he can only live in trembling with doubts about himself forever, every time he makes a small achievement, he will fall into a bigger crisis. in the throes of doubt.Nor did he allow temptation to exist in his life; it was his job to go from castle office to home and from home to office.Of course he can imagine that in this regard he has a stubbornness to pursue things to the end, and his endurance is comparable to that of K.In order to find out what Klamm was like, he tortured himself unimaginably, using one hypothesis to confirm another hypothesis, like going crazy!In order to wait for an old letter that was destined to disappoint him, he had to be alert, he had to tense up, and he had to run with that letter out of breath!

Barnabas's soul is clean and transparent.He was born for the job of messenger, and the shrewd Olga saw this at a stroke.Throughout his career as a messenger, the content of the letters had never concerned him so much; all he had cared about was the purity of the form in which the Castle dealt with him, for that was what established his identity.It was a pity that the castle never gave him a modicum of hope in this regard, making him a little more relaxed and confident the next time he went.The castle officials always had the same cold and impatient look, which seemed to say: the messenger is not necessary.This certainly hurt his self-esteem; but he was not reconciled, he wanted to pursue the effect of his work, but the effect without exception made him despair and made him give up on himself.Castle is stingy and gives him nothing but troubles and pains.But when Olga rationally analyzed it, she felt that the truth was not the case.Indeed, Barnabas got what he deserved.Isn't he the only one delivering letters in the whole village?Wasn't Klamm's letter to K sent to K from him?Isn't it because he delivered the letter that the whole family has hope?People should not have unreasonable thoughts, they should only work honestly.Barnabas's desire to prove his identity as a messenger was just the worst kind of desire.Olga's analysis is precisely the analysis of the castle's will.But do castles really forbid wrongdoing?Why does Barnabas get into the vicious circle of unreasonable thinking as long as he works?It turned out that the castle only wanted to torture him; and according to the castle's pre-setting, the job of messenger itself was a whimsical job.The work was all too immediate in contact with the castle.The solemn and mysterious atmosphere in the office, and the fresh and incredible way of transmitting information, how could he not make him feel ashamed and try to use his identity as a spiritual support?As for his identity, apart from the way he deals with officials, where can the importance of the letters in his hand be reflected?This is also the only right that the castle gives Barnabas, the right of fantasy.And what tormented him most was the sense of illusion; in order to overcome the sense of illusion, his only weapon could only be doubled illusions.But how marvelous is the power of the human imagination!It not only supported the spirit of Barnabas and kept him from getting depressed, but also supported his family.It was precisely because of this right that Barnabas did not turn into a shadow, but was actually busy on the road to survival.

Survival in a desperate situation--The will of the castle experienced by a family It is a long process for Olga's family to fall into the situation of desperate survival.In the process, Castle allows this stubborn family to show just how far the deepest sufferings of the soul can go, and what one can do in the midst of such appalling sufferings.We followed Olga's narration, and we felt the fierce and pressing style of the castle everywhere, and the seemingly indifferent, almost sadistic way of perception that brought the passion to the extreme.What is the castle going to do to Olga's family?It wants them to die, but it doesn't really die, but lives in the atmosphere of death, creating its own light in the darkness. The first to die was Amalia.At the end of that letter, after Sodini pressed her the eternal human question, the girl chose a much more difficult path than Frieda and others with her bravery and deep emotion—using Reject love to love.Such love is eternal silence, almost equal to nothing.Why did she make such a choice?Because of high spirit, because of strong will.The consequence of this is not only the death of her own secular emotions, but also a huge disaster for the whole family.The castle began to deprive the family, or the family began to deprive themselves under the threat of the castle.The old father spent all his family's property to bribe the castle, and finally lost his health.So he became a free man.What can a free man do?Free people can set their own goals to live.The old man made a demonstration, constantly creating something out of nothing, constantly creating light to illuminate their dark hut.If you hadn't fallen to this point, how could you experience the joy of being rescued from a desperate situation?Lacking God, the old man becomes God himself.If you understand the old man, you also understand why he has such three stubborn sons and daughters.The old man knew that if he betrayed the castle, he would be punished by heaven, and he accepted his fate calmly.The method he adopted was the darkest kind of confession—a confession without an object and without knowledge of a specific crime.This confession is as deep as a bottomless pit.But it's not enough, he has to consciously find a partner, find a crime, and never stop!He searched and searched until both he and his mother collapsed on the stone at the gate of the castle, unable to move any more.Olga is also a typical example of death and resurrection, a lightmaker in the dark.For her, there is always a road that never ends, and there is always hope without hope.Not only did she bear the suffering herself, but she also made her brother a messenger.Her energy is astonishing, and her creations are dizzying.It was the castle's will, that tyrannical will that stimulated the creativity in her body.Now we see that for this extraordinary family, what the castle said is: either die or create, there is no other way.We also see that through the gap of the castle principle there is an infinite hope of life alive.People must try their best to squeeze out of the gap to survive. Nowhere has the castle's will been so tyrannical as it was with Olga's family.Here we really feel the impulse to make light—the reproduction of that great moment.Every reader who enters the artistic conception of this kind of poetry will experience the pulsating and painful joy, and the joy and pain created together under the guidance of the poet.The answer to the mystery is finally revealed: the will of the castle turns out to be the will of human beings to live forever, the will that cannot be extinguished and cut.This kind of will breaks through the authority of thinking, combines heaven and hell, and builds a transparent allegorical palace on huge ruins.And when we fix our eyes on this will, it becomes a deeper and eternal riddle again. December 20, 1997, Yingcai Garden