Linus Fleck

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Linus Fleck is a satirical novel by Hans Werner Richter from 1959 .

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"Linus Fleck" is a satire about West German society in the early post-war period . The author criticizes those who made big money quickly without laying a solid foundation for their success. It expresses that sooner or later you can fall just as quickly and deeply as you ascended before.

The novel is set in Munich from 1945–1955. It starts with the father of the protagonist Linus Fleck dying, who is now completely on his own, as his mother had left the family a long time ago because of another man. When the Americans invade, 17-year-old Linus clings to them in order to achieve a privileged position and rapid social advancement. In fact, he made the proverbial path from dishwasher to millionaire in a very short time. He was initially the editor of a newly founded political youth magazine, later a newspaper of the rainbow press. Linus has had good success with these companies for quite a while.

Two former schoolmates, Sigrid Merck and Waschbottel, run parallel to his career. However, it quickly becomes apparent who has really established themselves in their business and whose prosperity will only be short-lived.

While Linus and Sigrid are trying to gain a foothold in the new media industry, Waschbottel does not trust the development. Although he initially works as an editor at Linus, he then decides to take up a safe and well-established profession and goes to Switzerland to become a professor at a university. As you can see at the end of the story or in the epilogue, he has made the right decision: Many who try their luck in new industries have a similar experience to Linus and Sigrid. They have to experience first-hand how short-lived success can be if, as an outsider, you try to establish yourself in a profession. They end where they started.

The main characters

The three main characters Linus Fleck, Peter Waschbottel and Sigrid Merck, who is only called the "Angel of Fontainebleau" by everyone, start under the same conditions: They live in the same small Bavarian village, are all around 17 years old and go to the same class, until the lessons have to be canceled due to the Second World War . However, under the influence of the crew and the emerging mood of optimism, they continue to develop in different directions. The three represent the entire German population, which Hans Werner Richter has divided into two different categories based on their attitudes and “recipes for success” in a time when nothing seemed impossible and every path was apparently open to everyone. All three people, like the entire novel, have real role models, as can be seen in the epilogue.

Peter Waschbottel - the opposition intellectual

Peter Waschbottel describes himself as an "impotent opponent". In the afterword, the author assigns him to the group of oppositional intellectuals.

When Linus receives the offer to become editor-in-chief and publisher of a newly founded newspaper, he hires Waschbottel as editor. You quickly notice that, unlike Linus, he has his own opinion and does not allow himself to be drifted by the emerging moods like a ship. He bases this opinion on historical events and the statements of famous politicians or philosophers and the conclusions that he draws from them. This is evident again and again in his speeches and newspaper articles. Waschbottel is a democrat from the bottom of his heart and describes the American military government as a dictatorship, which is insufficiently performing its task of re-educating Germans from Nazis to democrats. In his opinion, "criticism is the salt of democracy" and accordingly he does not mince words in his texts. The occupiers call him a "nihilist" because of an article that was extremely critical of them, which alludes to an experience of the critical journalist Hans Werner Richter, who was accused of nihilism by the American cultural control center .

Waschbottel expressed his criticism of the society of that time in the form of satires, which he published in Linus magazines under his name. But instead of taking note of the criticism and working on improvements, the American occupiers show incomprehension. The response of the population is not mentioned. After the magazine “Korkenzieher” had to be given up due to insufficient demand, Waschbottel decided to emigrate to Switzerland to teach as a professor at a university.

Linus Fleck - a plaything of luck

At the same point where Wasbottel describes himself in his satirical and slightly sarcastic way as the “powerless opponent” of the new system, he puts Linus in the category of “[the cheap protesters]” who “go the way of money”. He represents the type of opportunist who believes he is being smart when he attracts other people through his regular payments in the form of food. But instead of winning in the long term, he gets more and more into the role of the exploited and thus becomes a victim of the new "profit-stress-destroyed society" (Ingeborg Drewitz).

At the beginning of the novel, he is one of the few people in the country who has access to food because of their relationship with the American occupiers. He is initially correct in his opinion that anything can be achieved or forced on the basis of the food. However, he is not able to cope with the rapid changes of the times and the associated economic upswing and therefore does not realize it when his influence is getting smaller and the pillars of his career are becoming increasingly shaky.

The figure of Linus Fleck lacks an independent profile, as he mainly appears as a plaything for other people. First Waschbottel, later the nouveau riche Mr. Nießburg use his name and his initially good reputation to express their own opinion and to achieve their own goals without risking anything themselves. This method shows the instability of this business and it is by no means surprising for the reader that the protagonist at the end of the novel is on trial for character assassination and excessive debt. Linus himself believes to the last that he made a clever move and does not think about it critically.

One reason for this is that Linus does not have his own opinion, but always adopts that of the others. When he had to take the criticism of his American superior for an article written by Wasbottel, he reproduced it to the editor with almost exactly the same wording in which he had received it. Even when he is sexually harassed by Lina Knass (the wife of his former rector through whom he got his new certificate), he wonders what raccoon would say and do in this situation.

The Angel of Fontainebleau - victim of the boom?

Sigrid Merck can be assigned to the same category as Linus Fleck. She too is benefiting from the new spirit of optimism, has managed to establish herself in a profession of which she initially has no idea (film distribution), and thanks to the Americans, she quickly makes a lot of money. The difference between her and Linus, however, is that she does not rely on her luck, but, as you only learn at the end of the novel, has to work hard to achieve her goal. She had to invest a lot of money, often has to pay hardship, but has learned from her mistakes and drawn the consequences. Although she is successful until the end of the story, we learn in the afterword that she, or at least her real role model, has fallen victim to the fast-moving times. Her films went out of style and she didn't make it to switch in time.

Satire, yes, but against whom?

The satirist is an insulted realist who wants the world to be good and since it is not, he now runs against the bad. (based on Kurt Tucholsky ) The subtitle of the novel "Linus Fleck" is "A satirical novel". Several satirical aspects can be found in the work. On the one hand, there is the satirist among the main characters, whose place in this work is clearly taken by Peter Waschbottel. On the other hand, it is also the satirical role of the entire novel that is interesting to see.

Peter Waschbottel - a satirical figure

The author has experienced the post-war world firsthand and has suffered severely from the restricted freedom of expression. According to the law in Germany you could say anything you wanted, but in practice this was not always the case. For example, the occupiers in the West were very sensitive to anything that brought a touch of communism with it. And since Richter had been a member of the KPD for two years before the Second World War, things weren't exactly easier for him under the anti-communist occupiers after the war. For example, the magazine he published, “Der Ruf”, was banned after a short time.

It is probably this experience, among other things, that prompted him to repeatedly criticize the occupiers and their view of democracy in this novel. This "task" and thus the role of the satirist among the people takes on in this case Wasbottel.

It is true that Waschbottel mostly adheres to the guidelines given to him by Linus and Major Howard (the ex-boyfriend of Linus 'mother and Linus' boss) regarding the form and content of his articles. However, if you just let him write, then you can usually read your own opinion clearly. The same goes for his speeches.

When saying goodbye to an American soldier, for example, he gives a speech in honor of the transatlantic occupiers. In it, he praised them for the extraordinary services they had achieved through their re-education. But instead of going into the political aspects, as one would expect, he only speaks of the blue jeans and jazz , which, as part of this re-education, had now become the cult of German youth. This can clearly be seen as a swipe at their policy.

Another example of this is a conversation between Waschbottel and Linus, in which Peter states that the Americans are mostly very popular with the German people. The reason: they have the food that mere mortals are so scarce at the moment. The real message is that the occupiers were supposed to prevent the population from going hungry. You should take the necessary measures to prevent this from happening, rather than creating a food monopoly, so to speak, almost forcing the occupied to collaborate. In this context he also talks about the so-called “calorie eros”, ie “the connections between hunger and sex”, which probably caused some to enter into more or less unwanted connections.

Linus Fleck - A satirical novel

The issue of preventing bad literature as early as possible was a particular concern of Hans Werner Richter and all other members of Group 47. The group's meetings regularly discussed works by mostly young authors. Many were so panned that these authors were cured of writing for all time and deprived of all illusions. So it's no wonder that this group of people also has a representative in this novel. It's Linus Fleck. Although he is the editor of a newspaper, he knows nothing about writing. His testimony is bought and in most cases he lets others do the job for him. If he picks up the pen himself, in most cases it will be a disaster. After all, the last issue of his magazine “Hallo hier Film” is the reason why he has to emigrate to America to avoid jail and several fines.

Richter was very skeptical of the rapid upturn and all new systems and political methods. He, too, always seems to have a solid, tried-and-tested basis for all of his opinions and does not believe in "happy circumstances" that help you make quick money.

There are always a few satirical comments on this subject. One example is the new credit system. In the end, Linus fails (among other things) because he is heavily in debt and can no longer repay the loan. On the subject of East-West politics, the author describes a meeting between East German and West German writers, which, however, fails due to a lack of cooperation.

Stylistic devices

Once up and back again

The novel has a circular course as far as the main character, Linus Fleck, is concerned. At the beginning of the novel, Linus is all alone. His mother left the family a long time ago and his father just passed away. The only person he is in contact with is Sigrid Merck, the Angel of Fontainebleau. The two have a little liaison , although it seems to be much more serious for Linus than it is for Sigrid. She storms him with kisses, but otherwise doesn't care much about him. Even when Linus' father dies, she is not there for him. In the further course of the book, the paths largely separate. They live in the same town, but both are usually very busy on business and hardly have time to see each other. Neither does the desire seem so great on either side. In return, Linus made a lot of new friends or at least followers. Due to his great success he is very popular and associates with all important personalities. As his success diminishes, so do his so-called friends. In the end he is all alone again. Almost at least, because at this moment the old friendship between him and Sigrid is thawing again. It is she who finally helps him escape. As in his youth, Linus feels more for her than she does for him. For him it is a disappointment to learn that Sigrid did not really love him, but only looked after him to calm her conscience.

Another aspect is the language . At the beginning of the novel, Linus speaks in simple sentences without any anglicisms or foreign words . When the raccoon speaks to him, he usually does not understand half of the story and he usually also lets the raccoon talk about political issues because he has no idea about it. The more successful he is, the better he learns to express himself and the higher the level of language he speaks at. There is hardly a difference between the way he speaks and that of his colleague. But that too changes just as suddenly as its success diminishes. When he is finally alone in his apartment and finally goes to Sigrid's house, he speaks exactly the same simple German that he spoke as a 17-year-old.

The physical stature of Fleck also goes through this ring-shaped course. At the beginning of the novel, he is starved and thin due to the war. By working with the Americans, he is sitting at the source of the food, so to speak. After the long period of hunger, he eats without paying attention to his figure. It gets thicker and thicker. When he is at the height of his career, so is his obesity. At the end of the novel it is not as lean as at the beginning, but a circle can still be seen here as well.

It is almost logical that his career must also join this circle. Linus starts out as a poor boy who owns nothing and doesn't have anyone to look after him, and then works his way up to the nationally respected publisher of magazines. Of course, his wallet fills up accordingly. But as quickly as his career began, it ends again. Instead of taking appropriate measures in good time, Linus, who has become blind from success, goes into debt more and more, so that he loses everything more or less overnight. His career is going downhill sharply and the loans he has taken can no longer be repaid. In the end, he has even less than at the beginning of the novel: a pile of debts and an impending prison sentence.

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