The fall

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The fall is a story by Friedrich Dürrenmatt published in 1971 .

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The story describes the overthrow of the chairman of a council of state modeled on the Soviet Union . The entire action takes place in a meeting room in the presence of the political leadership, among whose ministers named with letters only "Minister O" is not present. The speculation about his absence leads to various intrigues and slander , which are presented from the perspective of the "Minister N" responsible for the post. The power struggles finally escalate when two ministers are called out of the room to presumably liquidate them, and so result in the demand for the removal of Chairman A. After the then bureaucratically easy change of power, “Minister O” arrives too, who was just late , to the meeting.

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The story Der Sturz , for which Dürrenmatt's trip to the Soviet Union in 1964/65 may have prompted, is a parable of the functioning of a politically corrupt leadership that is as mistrustful as it is bureaucracy . The replacement of the dictatorial leader is presented as the result of a process that is determined in its course by lower human interests and yet in its escalation almost necessarily aims at a fall through which the equilibrium within the ruling class can only be restored. The body itself as well as the coup are exposed in all their absurdity .

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