Labyrinth, snares, and blindness

Meaning

The Way of Truth uses several images for readers trapped by misunderstood books. Fencing before the blind figures an impressive display before people unable to judge it; the labyrinth figures wasted labour followed by despair; snares describe subtle names that direct workers towards metallic bodies when the narrator says metallic essence is intended. Blindness is thus not a physical diagnosis but deficient understanding. The narrator claims that knowledge of metallic nature will let his friend recognise how much useless work he has done. These images are polemical judgements, including the attack on Bodenstein, and should not be converted into independently established assessments of every named writer.