Panopticism and the construction of power in Franz Kafka's The Castle.

Publication: Papers on Language & Literature

Publication Date: 01-JAN-07

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This enclosed, segmented space, observed at every point, in which the



individuals are inserted in a fixed place, in which the slightest movements are supervised, in which all events are recorded, in which an uninterrupted work of writing links the centre and periphery, in which power is exercised without division, according to a continuous hierarchical figure, in which each individual is constantly located, examined and distributed among the living beings, the sick and the dead--all this constitutes a compact model of the disciplinary mechanism. Michel Foucault--Discipline and Punish

In his "Panopticon; or, The Inspection House" (1791), Jeremy Bentham expounded his theories for the construction of an ideal prison system--the Panopticon--following a precise architectural model. (1) Bentham envisioned the Panopticon as consisting of a central watchtower surrounded by a circular row of cells permanently exposed to the unseen Inspector in his lodge. This prison would operate on the assumption that fear of being watched would lead the inmates not only to incorporate the rules but to regulate their own behavior as well. Bentham did not restrict his ideal to the building of a penitentiary-house, but extended its application to any of a number of institutions built under the same principles and with a similar purpose, "whether it be that of punishing the incorrigible, guarding the insane, reforming the vicious, confining the suspected, employing the idle, maintaining the helpless [...]" (Bentham 34, emphasis original). Nor did he limit his plans to a carceral structure or correctional facilities, either, but went even further by formulating a utopian vision of a Panopticon town as a self-sustaining unit of production that would include factories, schools, churches, and hospitals. Following utilitarian principles, Bentham sought to conflate a moral purpose with notions of productivity in a model whose final aims were "punishment, reformation and pecuniary economy" (Bentham 50). (2)

Written in 1922, and published posthumously in 1926, Franz Kafka's The Castle portrays a world seemingly controlled by whimsical leaders and absurd rules. As K., land-surveyor and unwelcome guest in the village near the Castle, endeavors to reach his goals--the Castle itself and the elusive Director Klamm--questions arise regarding the ultimate source of power, the means of rule-enforcement, and the terms of the relationship between villagers and officials in the prison-like world created by Kafka. Regardless of who or what is in control of the Castle, of the village, and of K.'s actions, the power structures are kept in place by the pervasive fear of a ubiquitous bureaucratic system and by the threat of a punishment that is seldom actually administered or experienced.

In his analysis of The Castle, Michael Lowy asks, "what if the Castle did not symbolize something else but was just a castle, that is to say the seat of an earthly authority?" (50). (3) Thus Lowy points to the need to produce interpretations of the novel that do not rely exclusively on symbolic or allegorical meanings. This article seeks to identify those structural elements that enable the construction and functioning of authority in the Castle, examining how it works rather than what it stands for. I maintain that Kafka's Castle operates on the basis of panoptic principles, relying on an authoritarian regime and permanent surveillance for the sake of individual discipline and social stability. Tracing the numerous parallels between the Castle and Bentham's Panopticon serves a twofold purpose. On the one hand, it reveals the organizing principles beneath the apparently haphazard and absurd structure of the Castle; on the other hand, it uncovers the contradictions and limitations intrinsic to the Benthamite carceral project.

The separation of the Castle-as-Panopticon from the village helps articulate two interrelated spaces--physical and mental--each reinforcing the other. The Castle occupies a central position in relation to the village, not because it lies at "its very geographical center," but because of its location at a vantage point from which control and authority can be established. The spatial distance between the two spaces defines the hierarchical division between the gentlemen and their social inferiors, and it incapacitates the villagers, preventing them from reaching the Castle. As K. sets off to reach the Castle, he notes that "[t]he street he had taken, the main street in the village, did not lead to the Castle hill, [...] and though it didn't lead any farther from the Castle, it didn't get any closer either" (10). K.'s observation focuses directly on structural elements in the design of the Castle that make it inaccessible to any but authorized persons. (4) His description of its exterior, particularly of the tower, also presents striking similarities to Bentham's Panopticon. "The tower up here," K. says, "the tower of a residence as now became evident, possibly of the main Castle, was a monotonous round building [...] with little windows that glinted in the sun" (8). This portrayal coincides with Bentham's choice of the most suitable shape for the lodge. In one of his letters, he states, "As the general form of the building, the most commodious seems to be the circular" (43, emphasis original). (5) And just as Bentham modeled his inspection tower after a church, the sight of the Castle tower brings to K.'s mind recollections of the church in his hometown. These considerations of shape and structure, nonetheless, take a secondary place in relation to the symbolic function of the building.

The Castle represents both a physical and symbolic structure; its physical presence corresponds to a psychic state determined by the symbolic value of the Castle-as-Panopticon. Unlike the Inspector's lodge in Bentham's scheme, which is permanently visible, the Castle seems to dissolve, and K. feels that "the longer he looked, the less he could make out, and the deeper everything sank into the twilight" (99). Even though the Castle disappears from K.'s range of vision, its hidden presence still exerts a powerful influence on his actions. That the Castle is felt rather than seen and that it shifts from a solid structure into a jumble of buildings serve as indications of its illusory nature. These attributes further support the notion that the effectiveness of the power held by the Castle and by the Panopticon does not necessitate their physical presence but depends on their ultimate psychic effects on the observers.

Much like its exterior, the Castle's internal structure appears to be a fiction staged for outsiders. In reference to his brother's experience at the Castle, Olga Barnabas comments, "He can enter an office, though it doesn't even seem to be an office but rather an anteroom to the offices, and perhaps not even that, perhaps it's a...

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