The Subject and The Self

This story has a lot to say about the subject and the self.  

the countryman is the subject, because he is defined not by intrinsic or internal qualities but by external factors.

The countryman loses his self as he goes inward and finds that his world is getting darker, yet there is a shining stream of light from the gateway of the law.  This I believe, is to signify him finding himself, or seeing that there is still a piece of his "self" still there within him.

The countryman is representative of the cultural subject because he consistently responds to the law and to the doorkeeper.  He consistently responds to the the doorkeeper, by not entering without the doorkeeper's permission.  The countryman is definately not "untouched" by law because if he were, he would enter the gate without paying any regard to the doorkeeper.  

What does it cost him?  - To keep safe from the influence of the law, it is basically costing the countryman his life and his livelihood.  By that I mean, he spent his whole life waiting to enter the gate of the law without even taking his focus off of the doorkeeper.  More importantly it seemed to cost him his "self."  When his world was getting darker, he was losing his "self."  As if to say that his world was caving in.  

The countryman is determined by the law in the sense that because the countryman listened to the doorkeeper and did not gain access to the law without the doorkeeper's permission.  The law is therefore the authority, and determines the countryman's fate in this particular story.  

I think there is never really an "untouched" self or a truly unique "self" because people are always influenced by something outside of themselves.  The self is at the same time the passive subject.  Even if the person feels they are in control, they are already (even without her awareness), responding to things that are already there.  Things that are already part of a culture.  

I think that Kafka is suggesting that the "self" is a necessary category.  By giving the audience a powerful metaphor like the countryman being not sure if he was losing his sight in a literal sense, or if it was something bigger such as losing his "self."