The death of the petty bourgeois

The death of the petty bourgeois is a story by Franz Werfel , which was published in 1927.

content

The story is about Karl and Marie Fiala. Together with their son Franzl and Marie's sister Klara, they live in a very small and sparsely furnished apartment in Vienna. Franzl is an epileptic, so life is difficult and he cannot find work. Marie wants Franzl to come to an institution because she believes that he would have an easier life in it than here. Karl defends himself strictly against it and wants to give his son a good life himself. So if Karl died, Franzl would go to an institution. For this reason, Karl takes out a life insurance policy for 20,000 schillings with his neighbor Schlesinger, who is an insurance man. However, this is only paid out if Karl reaches his 65th birthday before he dies.

On Karl's name day, his wife, who used to work as a confectioner in Kralowitz, makes him pastries and good coffee. Karl is amazed that there was usually only thin tea. When Klara comes home, she is upset because there is coffee and pastries. Marie tries to convince her sister that it's just tea, as always, but Klara doesn't believe her. In her greed, Klara grabs two pieces of pastry and hides them in her old box near her sleeping place, in which so many sweets have already spoiled. Mr. Fiala is feeling worse and worse over time, so he sends Franzl to the hospital to ask if a bed is free for him. Before he can be admitted to the hospital, however, he must be examined. The doctors determine that he has a fever and immediately assign him a bed. Over time, his health deteriorated and the doctors soon didn't know how to help him. When he is thrown into the death room, he meets Mr. Schlesinger, his neighbor and insurance man. From this he learns that he will not get a penny from the insurance company if he does not turn 65. For this reason, Mr. Fiala resolves to fight for survival until his birthday. In the hospital, it becomes a sensation for doctors and students. Classes even come to his room to see him.

Mr. Fiala's wife Marie already believes him dead and therefore does not come to visit. Mr. Fiala has hidden the most important things under his upholstery: his tear-off calendar and a piece of cloth from his old uniform. Shortly before he dies, Karl has another dream in which he receives an order from the colonel of the KuK regiment to die. Shortly afterwards he dies. He survived his 65th birthday by two days and his family receives the sum insured.

Werfel seems to have found a model for this story in Edgar Allan Poe's short story The Facts in the Waldemar Case .

construction

The narrative is divided into 7 sections, comparable to the pyramid-shaped structure of a classic drama :

Fiala in his apartment (characteristic of the main person) ( exposure ).
Name day: Fiala takes out life insurance ( exciting moment ).
Sister-in-law Klara is described and Fiala's wife finds out about the contract (increasing action)
All Saints' Day: outbreak of the disease ( peripetia / turning point).
Schlesinger and Fiala lie in the dying room (falling plot)
He successfully defends himself against death; Klara finds out from the insurance company ( retarding moment )
Birthday: Fiala dies and his family gets the insurance money (disaster / solution)

Main character

Karl Fiala, the former porter of the Financial State Procuratorate, now earns his living as a magazine supervisor after early retirement. Married to Marie, the daughter of a confectioner from Kralowitz, he lives in a small apartment in Vienna, together with his son Franz, an epileptic, and the contentious sister-in-law, Klara. He still takes great pride in his previous career as a soldier, when he reminisces, as he so often does. Before his death, he still pursues the goal of not leaving his family behind poorly.

Historical background

Franz Werfel, himself a native of Prague, wrote The Death of the Petty Bourgeois at the beginning of the 20th century. During these times, the demographic movement in the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is characterized by a strong immigration of the Czech population to the capital Vienna. Rapid urbanization means that the steadily growing middle class is also lacking the necessary jobs. After the end of the monarchy, the military lost value, many soldiers had to be fired and were given a post as civil servant. Later, these jobs will also be in danger. Due to the high rate of inflation, money is continuously losing value, which is why more and more people are deciding to keep their money at home, as they can no longer place the necessary trust in the banks. The burgeoning housing shortage is also reflected in Werfel's factory. Often the smallest apartments with one or two rooms not only have to accommodate the whole family, but also relatives and, if the money shortage is great, a room may still have to be rented out. In this context, rampant protectionism also falls. This becomes clear in the book when Karl Fiala loses his job because the nephew of his boss needs a job. But he not only gets to know the negative sides of this sign of social degeneration, because without his acquaintance with the porter of the hospital it would hardly have been possible for him to get a bed in the AKH .

Characteristic

Mr. Karl Fiala:

Mr. Fiala worked as a porter for a long time, but was then inexplicably retired early. Now he works as a magazine overseer to support his family. In this job, he says, he cannot be fired. Karl is a person who is good-natured and likes to dream about the past. The well-being of his family is very important to him and therefore he goes through great agony.

Ms. Marie Fiala:

Mrs. Fiala is by nature not a particularly resolute woman. She looks a little petite, but at home she has her pants on because her husband is too good-natured with her. She has never really worked in her life as Mr. Fiala always brought home enough money. She doesn't know what she's got in her husband. She only notices this when her husband was dying and it was already too late.

Klara:

Klara is Marie's sister and also stays in the Fialas' small apartment. She is described in the book as a selfish, contentious, and kleptomaniac person. She mainly cares about her own well-being and not that of those around her. She often seeks arguments with others, but only to be the center of attention and attract attention. She also sees something of value in completely worthless things. For this reason, because other people throw things away, she feels constantly threatened, or as a "victim of society".

Franzl:

Franzl is the son of Marie and Karl Fiala. He is epileptic and is therefore considered to be handicapped or disturbed by the people of that time. He wants to work, but cannot find a job due to his “disability” and is therefore completely dependent on his parents. Franzl also doesn't like to venture out in public and is therefore a closed person.

epoch

The death of the petty bourgeois shows many of the hallmarks of Expressionism. The desolate, depressing mood described in the book is characteristic. Fiala's illness, the helplessness of his son and the imprisonment in his own apartment are other typical motifs that the author uses. The crisis of the family and the person in authority (father, doorman) dominates the plot. The scene, the big city, is described in all its depressing effect. Throughout the story, Werfel confronts the reader with many symbols (such as the cemetery), but completely neglects to describe nature realistically. In the final dream sequence, the fulfillment of duty is pathetically evoked, the father becomes a brave soldier who fulfills his duty to the family. Another characteristic is the feverish dream in the middle of the text, which not only attracts attention because of the expressive language, but also deals with the porter's fantasies of omnipotence. In terms of content, parallels to Franz Kafka's parable Before the Law can be seen.

literature

Franz Werfel: The death of the petty bourgeois. Paul Zsolnay, Berlin - Vienna - Leipzig 1927; Universal library 8268. Reclam, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-15-008268-4 .