Today only the others die
Today only the others die is a story written by Charlotte Worgitzky and published in 1986. The story depicts different attitudes towards death and life based on the friendship between three women, which is put to the test by the death of Mary.
content
The first-person narrator is an actress and writer who is not mentioned by name. She got to know Maria Stierl and Lisette Herzog during their studies and later collaboration at a theater in Berlin . Maria was already starting to write at the theater, which the narrator only found out about when Maria took her to a group of writers and her mentor. In doing so, Maria helped her indirectly to get her first publication, which Maria never managed to do, even with great effort. The friendship with Lisette developed through the initially rare meeting of four, with Ortwig, Lisette's husband, Lisette and Gustav, the narrator's companion. When Lisette later fell ill, she confided in the narrator, among other things, which strengthened their relationship and developed a friendship. Among other things, Maria and the narrator worked together in a publishing house, although they had little to do with each other outside of the circle evenings or annual festivals. She found out about Maria's cancer from a friend. When she did not see Maria for a long time after she had left the publishing house, she suspected her death. It was all the more surprising for the narrator to see Maria at a theater performance in the auditorium. Reluctantly pleased, they both approached each other, exchanged phone numbers and finally agreed to meet. The narrator noticed at the meeting that Maria had changed in contrast to before, and they exchanged the you for you and thus reduced the distance from each other that was cool at the time. Due to her illness, Maria had a breast removed and she withdrew because she did not want to talk to anyone about her illness. Her later facial paralysis forced her to stop acting. Now Maria felt the need to meet people from before, so the narrator arranged a three-way meeting with Lisette. They drank coffee, reminiscing. Three quarters of a year later there was a big rift between the narrator and Lisette, who demoted the narrator's new book and referred to her as Bourgois . The narrator suspected envy behind her outburst. The friendship began at a time when she was seeking advice and assistance from the dukes and fell apart when it received public recognition for her work, while that of the duke stagnated. Although Lisette showed no remorse, the narrator jumped over her shadow for Maria's sake and a discussion ensued between the two. Without clarifying the cause, they reconciled. After severe back pain, Maria started a cure because the doctors suspected she had rheumatism . When Maria returned from her cure and her pain did not go away, the doctors diagnosed that she had a relapse and had another six months to live. The narrator tries to visit Maria regularly in the hospital and at home. While Lisette completely evades Maria, the narrator wants to actively accompany her as she dies. During the last few weeks of Maria, the narrator and Maria's family are thinking about euthanasia and getting strong pills that they want to give to Maria. When the narrator agrees to tell Maria that she only has a few months to live and that they could help her die, she refuses, because she does not want to deal with the idea of dying, and largely avoided it contact with her. Then the narrator talked to Lisette, from whom she received little confirmation. Another argument broke out, which finally broke the friendship of the two. In the past few months, Maria and the narrator have pulled together again, who helped Maria write a book about a woman who had overcome cancer. Maria died in the presence of her son Tobias and the narrator, who ate sausage sandwiches together at the sick bed. The story deals with topics such as friendship in conjunction with death, as well as euthanasia , fear, repression and helplessness, how to behave towards a terminally ill person who is close to you.
The book was "discussed unusually vehemently in the GDR".
It is the template for the feature film Today only the others die by Siegfried Kühn from 1991.
expenditure
- Today only the others die. Der Morgen, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-371-00017-6 . 2nd edition 1988.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charlotte Worgitzky on expedition-metropolis.de