HEINRICH aéu's ANSICHTEN names CLOWNS AND HEEDEGGERIAN EXISTENTIALISM Thesis {or fin Degree of M. A. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY Loren Ray AEexander‘ 1965 THESIS 'J , x g LIBRAR Y Michzgan State Univemty RGOM USE UNL‘I HEINRICH B5LL'S ANSICHTEN EINES CLONNS AND HEIDEGGERIAN EXISTENTIALISM by Loren Ray Alexander A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of German and Russian 1965 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Dr. Mark O. Kistler, Professor of German, for his guidance of this work. He is also grateful to the other members of his committee, Dr. Gallacher and Dr. Radimersky, for their critical assistance, and to Dr. Kotzin, Professor of Philosophy, for her assistance with Heidegger's terminology. The author also thanks Mike Gainey, Graduate Assis- tant, for his time spent reading the first drafts and discussing the ideas presented. Donna Alexander, the author's wife, proofread the final manuscript and took over the author's responsibili- ties as a father of three daughters during the period of time spent on this work. They deserve the fullest appreciation for their help and cooperation. SOKRATES UND ALCIBIADES "Warum huldigest du, heiliger Sokrates, Diesem Jfinglinge stets? kennest du Grassers nicht? Warum siehet mit Liebe9 Wie auf G8tter, dein Aug auf ihn?" Wer das Tiefste gedacht, liebt das Lebendigste, Hohe Tugend versteht, wer in die Welt gebliokt, Und es neigen die Weisen 0ft am Ende zu SchSnem sich. ammHSlderlin TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCT ION O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 CHAPTER A. B. C. CHAPTER I EXISTENTIALISM AND HEIDEGGER'S SEIN UND ZEIT O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Existentialism: A Survey Heidegger's Sein und Zeit: The Hermeneutic circle 3311's Symbolism in Ansichten eines Clowns II 1st AND 2nd PLANES: ODORS; ZUHANDENE AND FEE-UNDERSTAND Telephone and Conversations Telephone and Color Reception of Odors Existential Significance of Hans' Situa III 3rd PLANE: THE NUMBER SYMBOLS; TEX UNDERSTANDING c o o o o o o o o o The Number 5 The Numbers 3 and h The Numbers 7 and 12 IV nth PLANE: THE COLOR SYMBOLS; SELF- UNDERSTANDING . . . . . . . . . . Gray Black Green Red V 5th PLANE: THE COLOR SYMBOLS; CONTAC WITH-EXISTENCE: THE CIGARETTE . . White Polarity The Burning Cigarette: A Comprehensive The Cigarette and Hans' Final Solution CONCLUS ION O O O O 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 APPENDIX I: Diagrams C O O O O O O O O O O O 0 APPENDIX II: Heideggerian Terminology . . . . LIST OF WORKS CONSULTED O O O C O O O O O O 0 THE TELEPHONE AND ING . . tion TUAL T- Symbol 18 3h “5 56 66 69 71 7a INTRODUCTION B811 is wellmreccgnized today as a writer of short stories in a satirical, easy, interesting style. The larger works which he has written are among his more recent efforts and haven't received the acclaim of the earlier works. I have been impressed with the combination of the ease of reading his works and the "unspoken" message seemingly lying within them. His efforts remind me somewhat of the ease with which-I read Rilke and at the same time sense intimately some very important thought. I was interested to find that B811's recent novel, Ansichten eines Clowns9 seemed to be a symbolic work of the times. What is more, it assumed a more positive approach to life than first impressions indicated. I was reading an anthology of existential writings and noticed that the existential ideas expressed therein seemed to fit very closely with those of the novel. Upon reading an intro» duction to Heidegger's Sein und Zeit, I compared notes on 3311's symbols in Ansichten eines Clowns with Heidegger's ideas and found that they coincided very closely. At this point, I took up the problem of seeing whether 8811 used Heidegger's ideas in his symbolism. Both B311 and Heidegger have strong Catholic backgrounds, and Ball's generation has been influenced greatly by Heidegger's ideas, a fact which would naturally indicate that some correspondence might be present. ago In view of the possibilities expressed, I will first acquaint the readers not already versed in existentialism with its ideas, giving special emphasis to Heidegger's concept of the hermeneutioal circle, as expressed in his Sein und Zeit. An entry into the symbolism of Ansichten eines Clowns on a lower level will come next, followed by approaches on successively higher levels of symbolism. The problem which will evolve from these considerations, hence, is: Is Ball's Ansichten eines Clowns a symbolic representation of Heidegger's concepts in Sein und Zeit? CHAPTER I EXISTENTIALISM AND HEIDEGGER'S SEIN UND ZEIT The excursion into the ideas of existentialism begins with the Danish philosopher, Saran Kierkegaard (1813—1855).1 Kierkegaard is pessimistic. He is convinced, "dass die Geschaftigkeit und der Larm der Masse die Ursache daffir sind, dass sich die Menschen selbst nicht finden und verlorengehen fur die Ewigkeit."2 Man must reason, but reason does not provide any final answer. Reason leads back to the starting point of the "lostness" of the individual. God is beyond man's power to reason. Man's only hope is in Christianity since it is the opposite to this world, reason, and time. Time is a perceivable condition based on the world and reason, and is not valid for metaphysics in its present general conception. The world and reason lead man nowhere but to Christianity. When man understands the "simple" things of this world, he usually then forms "systems" of thought; these lead to "speculation" and a return to the only solution = Christianity. Christianity is basically a teaching of the "simple," therefore, the process begins again and again, with no way out. Time is opposite to lReality, Man and Existence: Essential Works of Existentialism, ed. H. J. Blackham (New York, 1965), hereafter cited as Blackham. Kierkegaard is treated on pages 16-53 2Johann Fischl, Idealismus,_Realismus und Existenm tialismus_der Gegenwart (Graz, 19SH), p. 251, hereafter cited as Fischl. 9 an... eternity, as sin is opposite to "suffering." Suffering is an individual's state of recognition of the "lostness" of man in relation to God. Man may either suffer and obtain the possibility of eternity, or sin and fail to gain this possibility. Kierkegaard presents a dilemma, but asserts the positive value of the Christian choice of "faith." His is a dialectical approach to the question of transcenm dental qualities in man. Friedrich Nietzsche (184401900) "resents" the human condition.3 Like Kierkegaard, he sees man as lost in a terrible situation. He cannot accept Kierkegaard's solution of the faith of Christianity. God is dead and man as god is impossible. Man in the world is involved in the creation of a better man, who will be destroyed, as is all else. There is nothing beyond destruction. The nonmrationaliy of this world leaves him only one possible choices the affirmam tion and promotion of this horrible situation. The only valid religion is a nonaChristian religion of man. Thus, he completely affirms life on this earth. As a philosopher and an endmproduct of human effort, he philosophizes about existence. His philosophical view is beyond the capability of those beneath his intellectual attainment. He has made uncurbed use of those inferior to him to gain his position. However, he is grateful to those who allowed their "destrqu 3Blackham, pp. Shull7. I” age tion" for his advancement, and affirms the necessity of each individual creating his own progress toward the same attain» ment, whether the individual attains the goal himself or not. His philosophy is presented as description rather than explanation. Kierkegaard used art-works to cloak his ideas in a dialectical system of thought; Nietzsche rejects all rationality, and presents prophetic information through esoteric descriptions. Karl Jaspers (1883» ) is concerned about the individual human being in extreme situations and the methods that make it possible for him to move toward an understanding of situations and a communicating of the understanding of the experience to others for scientific study.“ His position is between Kierkegaard and Nietzsche. Kierkegaard diminishes our world and Nietzsche expands the inconclusiveness of our situation. "Existenz" is Kierkegaard's claim of the infiniu tude of knowledge. Nietzsche affirms the infinitude and destroys the faith. Jaspers affirms both Kierkegaard's and Nietzsche's ideas through a union of efforts to explore ultimate reality scientifically and philosophically. "Grenzsituationen erfahren und Existieren ist dasselbe."5 He recognizes science as the only resource for knowledge, but then he uses his mind to understand Being, with science and “Blackham, pp. 118—159. 5Karl Jaspers, Philosophie (Berlin, 1932), II, 20h. “6.. without it. Kant is the basis for this rejection of pure reason and pure philosophy for a historical philosophy. Jaspers affirms God, but not Christianity. Gabriel Marcel (1889- ), who has written several plays, emphasizes the use of literary examples to express the concept of Hope, which, for him, is Christianity without dogma.6 Through art man gains idea-growth. The artistic effort develops the idea in the philosopher's mind. It is this effort to produce meaningful communication that results in the condition possible for the growth of the concept. Marcel emphasizes the relatedness of individuals in their existent condition, as do Jaspers and Buber. He early rejected monadism as being based on a premestablished harmony, which struck him as being "pure invention” and "artificial," however ingenious it might have been.7 In its place he puts the Hope of Christianity: .o.hope is essen'ially the availability of a soul which has entered intimately enough into the experience of communion to accomplish in the teeth of will and knowledge the transcenm dant act...8 Martin Buber's Ioh und Du (1923) is a presentation of the life of Dialogue.9 It is an independent development, from a Jewish background, of an approach which is similar to 6Blackham, pp. 160-208. 7Blackham, p. 163. 8Blackham, p. 206. gBlackham, pp. 209-236. -7- Marcel's. He also wishes to give religious significance to everyday life. The "word" signifies "lived life.” It is the response of the individual to responsibility. He considers the relationship of man to man as two-fold, the giver and the receiver, which is an always-dynamic relationship. Martin Heidegger (1889- ) produced one of the most important philosophical works of our times: Sein und £233.10 The specific concepts contained in this work will be discussed below. Suffice it to say at this point that Heidegger sees a need to go back to the pre-Socratics, especially to Heraclitus and Parmenides, for a reunion of poetry and philosophy. The preoccupation which the world has shown for logic has slowed the progress of the attempt to understand Being. Heidegger is concerned with presenting a fundamental ontology, whereas Jaspers is openly interested in "Existenz." He, like Sartre and Merleau-Ponty, is a student of Husserl's phenomenology. Husserl used a form of descriptive psychology and "pure" logic. His "pure" logic showed strong connections with mathematics. He later estabu lished his phenomenology, which attempted to describe phenomena rather than to make a scientific study of Being. Heidegger uses this phenomenology as his approach to the study of Being, and calls the resulting method phenomeno~ logical ontology. loBlackham, pp. 237-301. -8- Jean-Paul Sartre (1905- ) is probably better known than any other present-day philosopher.11 He has written extensively as a novelist, dramatist, and literary critic and gained a wide public. He, like Heidegger, is a phenomenological ontologist. He is influenced by Marx, and is, therefore, in a different category than Heidegger, who had taken an emotional phenomenon as the center of his inquiry. Sartre is politically oriented; Heidegger is religiously oriented. Sartre has contributed psychological theories and descriptions which refute the immanence of existence. Man must transcend the world to exist. Man is dependent on the world, but can gain independence of the world. Experience, even through gesture, can be brought about by the recognition of meaning through a phenomeno- logical approach and an a priori response. Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1907-1961) is not one of the "greats” in existentialism, but he presented thoughts on phenomenology which brought him much recognition in France before his early death.12 He, like Sartre, struggled with the relationship of Marxism and the problem of communism to the problem of Being. He claimed that Heidegger expresses the phenomenology of ourselves, which gives persons the impression of recognizing that for which they had been waiting. The world as phenomenological perception is not llBlackham, pp. 302-3u9. 12Blackham, PP. 350-371. mos pure Being, but when the individual takes up anothers' past or present experiences into his own present experience, such experience forms a recognition of the same experience of Being. Rationality is merely the attainment of meaning by blending perspectives and allowing perceptions to confirm each other. "For the first time the philosopher's thinking is sufficiently conscious not to anticipate itself and endow its own results with reified form in the world."13 Existentialism today represents a field of thought which attempts-to establish a value for knowledge. This is not a search for truth, but a search for the methods involved in creation. The existentialist is concerned biologically, in that the values he attaches to these creations are based on their possible effects on the total existence of all human beings. The consciousness of the individual when he is not being influenced by an emotion, practice of will, or preaset feelings concerning others is the only valid basis on which he may begin a discussion of the possibilities of Existence, i.e. the creation of Being. This concept of consciousness is not easily obtained. No individual can explain the full extent of meaning which this concept holds for him. It is basically subjective and non-transmissable through reasoning; therefore, the attempt is made to transmit it through literature. The receiver recreates a similar 13Blackham, p. 365. ”10m concept through an experience of the creation of Being; his experience is then the same as the author's. Heidegger‘s four main structural constituents of Beingmin-theuworld, plus a possible fifth structural constia tuent, are presented in his Sein und Zeit.lu He gives this concept expression in terms of the hermeneutical circle.15 The last sentence of his book is the question as to whether Time itself-is not making itself evident as the horizon of Being, a possible fifth structural constituent. (SZ #3?) Diagram One in Appendix I of this work presents graphically the first four structural constituents of Being. They were well charted by Heidegger in their relationships to each other, and naturally do not have such delineation in his concept as is necessary to make a graphic representation. Other types of diagram are possible, helpful, and equally valid. If the structural constituent of Time were to be given much consideration, as this diagram does not attempt to do, a complicated threeadimensicnal picture would be necessary, and even then would be far from the mental concept. One must bear in mind that the graphic representation of a philosophical concept, however scientifically based it might “ luMartin Heidegger, Sein und Zeit, 7th ed. unrev. (Tubingen, 1953), hereafter cited as $2 and inserted in text. 15Hans-vGeorg Gadamer, "Vom Zirkel des Verstehens," in Martin Heidegger zum siebzigsten Geburtstag, ed. Gfinther Neske leullingen, 1959), pp. 23-34. ills be, is only a poor, worldeTime approximation. This graphic concept must eventually be extended by the individual into a concept not graphically reproducible; and then, finally, this diagram will be considered meaningless. The difficulty of understanding Time puts a limitan tion on the extent to which Beingmianime can be understood. Time permeates Being and yet is outside Being-in-the-world. Timeoin-Being, therefore, is even more difficult to investi— gate. Heidegger bent his greatest efforts to discovering the structural constituents of Beingminwthemworld. He went on to show that Time cannot be separated from Being, and that Time must sometime be attacked in its relationship to Being. The four structural constituents of Being are named and numbered in Appendix I in the diagram, and the terminology is explained in Appendix II. I am using much of the terminology employed by Werner Brock in his introduction to Existence and Being.16 Brock was Heidegger's colleague at the University of Freiburg, and his summary of Sein uhd gel; provides an intimate introduction into Heidegger's thought. The first structural constituent to be described is the Zuhandene, l, which contains the "zuhandenes," lb, and the "vorhandenes," la, on the background of the Vorhandene. 16§xi§tence and Being (London, 1949). The Intros duction is in Blackham, pp. 238~300. alga Those objects in the world to which we have access due to their presence as a given in the universe are the Vorhandene, and are background to Being. Objects left by other men and now available for our use are Zuhandene, and may contain the existentially significant "zuhandenes," or only the insignia ficant "vorhandenes." Any contact with any person contains existential possibilities. A gesture, a word, a book, a poem, etc., i.e. the Zuhandene, may contain significant meaning, "zuhandenes." This becomes existentially signifi~ cant for me when I perceive the "vorhandenes" of the Zuhandene, ;, myself as a person, 3, understand the "zuhandm ones" of the Zuhandene, 2, and create Existence momentarily by "understanding" myself in my relation to all "vorhandenes" as it differs from Existence, fl|& j. I am then momentarily totally isolated from the Vorhandene and am directly facing my own Existence and the Unauthentic Existences of others. The moment of my relationship to the "other" in this world who produced the Zuhandene will be only one moment of the contact with the "zuhandenes" which it is possible.to obtain from that Zuhandene. Heidegger states: Die Herausfilterung des wahren Sinnes, der in einem Text oder in einer kfinstlerischen Schopfung gelegen ist,> ist ubrigens selber ein unendlicher Prozess.l The second structural constituent is Unauthentic 17Martin Heidegger, Erlauterung zu Holderlins Diche tung, 2nd rev. ed. (Frankfurt am Main, 1951), p. 33, horse after cited as Erlauterungen. -13s Existence, the lack of a significant understanding of the Zuhandene. It is also Prqunderstanding, signifying the possibility for understanding contained in this structural constituent. The condition of Pro-Understanding arises from and is the awareness of the condition of one-like-many. The individual senses his unity in the masses of men as separate from the Beings which are not men. The individuality of the individual is always present as a possibility, but he must affirm it by creating Being. Otherwise, he remains in the structural constituent of Unauthentic Existence. The third structural constituent represents the ”meeting' of the individual's Pre-Understanding with the Zuhandene of the first structural constituent. The individual recognizes the "zuhandenes" contained in the Zuhandene. Fear, 2a, of the direct confrontation with Existence, which is now becoming possible, and of the consequent isolation drives the individual toward a return to Unauthentic Exist- ence. This movement away from existence is termed "escape." The individual concentrates on the "vorhandenes" to the exclusion of the "zuhandenes." Verfallen is the movement of the individual through the structural constituents of Being. Verfallen contains the two opposing forces of "escape" and "dread.” "Dread,” an outgrowth of ”fear,” results in his pursuance of Existence through his understanding of the "zuhandenes." At any moment "dread" may give way to "escape." The pull of "escape" increases continually as the individual -14- moves toward Contact-with-Existence. The ”dread” of‘z leads into the heightened "dread" of 4a,b of the fourth structural constituent, Self-Understand» ing, wherein the individual recognizes his individuality and his responsibility for his own Being. Self-Understanding leads toward a Contact-with-Existence through Care. Care, 23, is attained in context with a view of Being as "dread" becoming Being-in-the-world, the realization of a concern for the whole situation of Being-in-the-world. ha', EL, and ‘3: represent the continuously increasing pull toward ”escape.” The possible fifth structural constituent, Contact- with-Existence, is the existential moment of viewing one's own Existence.. The individual is completely alone, completely himself, creating his own Being, and giving recognition through Care to the unauthenticity of Unauthentic Existence. Only a completely individualistic, Being-denying death can gain a complete release into Existence, and this may be completed while still physically alive: Der Tod ist eine Seinsmaglichkeit, die.Je das Dasein selbst zu fibernehmen hat. Mit dem Tod steht sich das Dasein selbst in seinem eigensten SeinkSnnen bevor. In dieser MSglichkeit geht es dem Dasein um sein In-der-Welt-sein schlechthin. Sein Tod ist die M3glichkeit des Nicht-mehr-dasein— konnens. Wenn das Dasein als diese M3glichkeit seiner selbst sich bevorsteht, ist es VSllig auf sein eigenstes Seinannen verwiesen. So sich bevorstehend sind in ihm alle Bezfige zu anderem Dasein gelSst. (SZ 250) . The present-day concepts of historical past, present, and future hold no validity for Heidegger. The product of -15- active Self-Understanding, Care, gains expression through "faith” in the Zuhandene. This provides the possibility for a continuance of the circular motion. World-Time is no factor, as many centuries may elapse before someone makes significant use of the "zuhandenes." At the moment of its use, the centuries are compressed to the "new," and Being is created. If the Zuhandene is understood significantly and yet results in unintelligible "talk," rather than ”speech,” the individual in contact with it has understood only the 'vorhandenes." This person remains widely removed from a proper concept of Being-in—Time, and yet is repeat- edly pulled toward Existence whenever he contacts the Zuhand- ene. This person thinks of Time only as world-Time: Wenngleich die vulgare Zeiterfahrung zun§chst und zumeist nur die ”Weltzeit” kennt, so gibt sie ihr doch zugleich auch immer einen aus- gezeichneten Bezug zu "Seele" und "Geist." Und das auch dort wo eine ausdruckliche und primare Orientierung des philosophischen Fragens auf das ”Subjekt” noch fernliegt. (SZ #27) Heidegger cites examples of this in Aristotle and Augustine. The reproducer of Zuhandene need not express a mean» ingful experience with other persons in order to be produc- ing that Zuhandene which contains "zuhandenes." The poet can state that which is "holy," the ”unknown force" which is contained in all Being. The person coming into contact with this poetry may understand the "zuhandenes" and experience Self-Understanding. The poet may have been able to express that element of his Being-in-the-world which is in direct contact beyond Being and therefore identical with Being-in- -15- the-world in—contact-withmExistence. "Was die Gedichte Holderlins in Wahrheit sind, wissen wir trotz der Namen 'Elegie' und 'Hymne' bis zur Stunde nicht."18 The poet expresses an insight, however, which was made possible for him by his contact with the dogmatician, the producer of Zuhandene from previous Zuhandene. The dogmatician receives his inspiration from the poet, which is, then, a reciprocal relationship without beginning or end. According to Anz, Heinrich Ott's concept of the hermeneutical arch is a misdirecting of understanding of the Zuhandene to the "vorhandenes": ...Ott's concept of the "hermeneutical arch"... is materially a criticism for ignoring the concept of hermeneutic of Being and Time, since the arch directs attention from the text to the...language rather than to...existence...19 The movement is a return to Unauthentic Existence. The emphasis is on the "talk" rather than the "speech," both of which are inherent in "dogma," i.e. Zuhandene. Ott intended to give his term a more inclusive meaning, but I agree with his critic, and will use it to denote the full course of the avenue of "escape." In later chapters, as in this chapter, all underlined numbers refer to the diagrams in the appendix. These numbers will remain.the designators of the same sections of the 18Er1§uterungen, p. 7. 19Heinrich Ott, "What is Systematic Theology?" in New Frontiers in Theology: Discussions among German and American Theologians, Vol. I: The Later Heidegger and Theology (New York, 1963), p. 80. -17“ diagrams . In the following treatment of B31l's symbolism I will structure the discussion according to the division of lite» rary themes as presented by C. E. W. L. DahlstrEi’m.20 DahlstrSm divided all possible literary themes into five categories, which appear to fit the five structural constituw ents of the diagrams. His five divisions also fit the five categories of symbols I had originally constructed on my own from B31l's novel. Dahlstrom's classifications, their correm spending structural constituents of Sein und Zeit, and the representative symbols from Ansichten eines Clowns that I will use to demonstrate my position are: (l) the physical (the frame of action), I of the hermeneutic circle, and the Telephone in.Ansichten eines Clowns; (2) the organic, g of the hermeneutic circle, and the sensing of odors; (3) the social (education, propaganda), 2, number-symbols; (h) the egoic (man's individual responses ~ a rise from instinct to thought), 3, colormsymbols except White; (5) the Divine (man as soul a divine forces within the human), 2, the colornsymbols leading into White and the composite symbol of the Cigarette. I prefer to label the Dahlstrgm classifia cations Planes of Symbolism in this work, for specificity. CHAPTER II lst AND 2nd PLANES: THE TELEPHONE AND ODORS; ZUHANDENE AND PRE-UNDERSTANDING The clown, Hans Schnier, uses the Telephone throughm out Ansichten eines Clowns as his last means of contact with people he knows.21 This chapter will establish the use of the Telephone as a symbol in its relation to the setting of scenes; the delineation of characters, including divisions of masculine, feminine, and those not contacted; the relationm ship to color-symbols; the extrammundane ability to perceive Odors as symbols through the Telephone; and the existential ideas represented. The settings for the various scenes provide one with information about Hans' homeulife during his youth, his living accommodations while on the road, and his final re- sponse to his misfortune. After Hans leaves home with Marie, he avoids the Rhine area near Bonn. He calls back, however: Manchmal sehne ich mich danach, rheinisch zu horen, so sehr, dass ich...anrufe, um diese... zu horen. (B011 81) He longs to return to the region of his childhood, but must avoid it due to the bad reputation he has there, and the conflict with the Catholic "friends" he encounters. Since he has a strong desire to hear the dialect, one can assume that his traveling about has not provided him an atmosphere 2 1Heinrich Boll, Ansichten eines Clowns (Koln, 1963), hereafter cited as Bell and inserted in text. ”19. to replace that of Bonn. Hearing the Operator's voice is enough to satisfy him for a while. His native accent, that most personal part of him, is tied up with all the many experiences of his earlier years. The operator's voice symbolizes the friends and acquaintances of earlier days, and his loneliness at the time. At the end of his brief career, Hans is called by Kostert, who manages to squirm out of paying Hans the agreed amount for his performance. Hans is in a cheap hotalroom, which lacks the accommodations he had enjoyed during his better days. This room has no bath, is small, which has put a cramp on his ability to practise his routines, and lacks fine room service. But it does have a Telephone. The presence of the Telephone in this sad situation indicates the extent to which this instrument has penetrated through all levels of society. It is unwittingly used by society in such situations to present that last means of contact with society left to people when they are down but not quite out. True personal contact is gone. In previous less- mechanized societies the man of means met the man of no means on any street face to face. The Telephone here repre- sents the mechanized life of today, which separates us from one another in those areas of communication which relate the deeply subtle qualities of an individual. We are forced physically closer to one another, but Spiritually and socially further apart. _2o- Hans begins his calling spree in the apartment by dialing his parents' home for his father: Ich suchte die Nummer meiner Eltern, die ich immer wieder vergesse, aus dem Telefonbuch: Schnier Alfons, Dr. h. c. Generaldirektor. Der Doktor war mir neu. (B811 38) Hans notices the title as something new; therefore, he is in infrequent contact with his father. The title indicates that his father is likely well-known, highly respected, and quite well-to-do. As so often occurs in connection with his calls, Hans' thoughts are drawn into a description of the physical surroundings. He is only about an hour's walk from his parents' home; the path he knows so well is retraced in his mind as it is being electrically traced through the Telephone lines. The girl who answers is not called by name; the Schniers have a private operator: Unser Telefonsystem ist kompliziert, Mein Vater hat allein drei verschiedene Ansohlusse... Meine Mutter hat nur zwei Telefone...(B311 39) The surroundings become very plush in the mind's eye through the number of Telephones and the manner of utilizing them. The setting at the time of the novel is the apartment in Bonn. It was set aside by his grandfather for Hans' use with the stipulations that he cannot sell it or rent it. The fact-that Hans cannot relate the ringing of the doorbell when his father arrives is due to his never having had to respond to one. This emphasizes the strangeness of his situation. He is out of his element, as the existentialist -21- is out of his element today in a materialistic world. The Telephone is the sole item with which he feels any sense of unity. All else of the apartment belongs to someone else, and is his to use only because his name is Schnier. Even the luggage he had had with him on his travels has not yet arrived. He is utterly alone: Ich zog das Telefon zu mir hin, legte mich wieder und stimmte die Guitarre...Als ich anfing zu singen, ffihlte ich mich fast wohl ...Die Sache gefiel mir. (B811 286) The well-being he experiences is an acknowledgement of the fact that society has rejected him, but allowed him the Telephone as an opening to a possible return to them if he ever desires to do so, but,unfortunately, only on their terms. Since he had found a Telephone available for use at all levels of his life, this item remains the only non- personal item in all of his circumstances which is at the same time a luxury and never denied him. Thus the artifiu ciality of the setting in the apartment compels him to be able to regard only the Telephone as a part of the apartment which he unqualifiedly receives as an indication of possible existential treatment. Since the Telephone is merely an extension of a society of Unauthentic Existences who offer no help, Hans is deluding himself. The symbol of the Telephone also serves as an important vehicle for information about characters. When Hans called home the operator happened to connect him to the incorrect Telephone, his mother's black business Telephone, s22- enabling us to gain an insight into the "official" side of her character. Hans, by his sarcastic response to her officious manner of answering the Telephone, indicates his complete disdain for her work, and the lack of love she always showed for Henriette, and, therefore, her inability to love anybody. She signifies this in her answer to his reference to Henriette's death: "Das kannst du wohl nie vergessen, wie?" (B311 39) Hans' retort to this then completes this facet of her character and his relationship to her: "Vergessen? Sollte ich das, Mama?" (B311 39) He is not disclaiming her as his mother, but is unhesitatingly denying her any consideration as a true Being. She allows herself only a selfish, materialistic, flesh and blood rela- tionship, but never a spiritual, subjective, intimate, loving one. Her white personal Telephone remains unused. Monika Silvs had formerly been one of Hans' closest friends. She embodied qualities that he admired: simplicity, truthfulness, amicability. Hans discovers quickly that their relationship is changed. He requests that she come to his apartment and care for his soul and his swollen leg. She replies: "Kann ich nicht sonst etwas ffir Sie tun, ich meine etwas, was sich telefonisch erledigen lasst." (B311 2&0) The Telephone is now the most intimate relationship she will allow herself with him. Hans understands that she is undoubtedly under pressure from others to maintain her distance. She plays the Chopin Mazurka for him over the D23: Telephone, showing that she sympathizes with him and will break the spirit of the law for him. When they both hesitate to hang up, and the sound of their breathing is all that is heard, their feeling for each other is shown to be deep and intimate. Her reluctance to hang up indicates her reluctance to accept the restrictions put on her. Many of the older generation regard the Telephone as a mysterious, new invention. Their inability to comprem hend its function confuses them. Many times they hesitate to use it merely due to the mechanistic aspects of it. Marie always helped "old grandmothers" in their attempts to call someone., She was able to recognize the strangeness to the older generation of the modern means of communication, and unhesitatingly used Hans' earnings to assist them. This is in keeping with her inability to ignore confused grand~ mothers on trains. She quietly paid the difference for a first-class fare for them if they got in the wrong car. Thus these methods of communication served to indicate Marie's sympathetic response to those who are confused by modern technological advancements, and her response indi- cates her own reluctance to give in to pressures to conform to a mechanistic, non-humanitarian approach to life. This is the tragedy that does occur to her later through her Catholic friends' influence. The paradox of receiving little information about a character through direct contact, yet knowing that charactu -24- er's more intimate qualities through indirect contact sug- gests that the novel is a psychological or metaphysical study. The male characters are characterized much differentu ly from the female characters. When Hans talked with the female characters, tender emotions were expressed; with the male characters B311 creates a direct confrontation of views of life which are at times conflicting sharply. Kinkel's son answers their Telephone as soon as it rings, and talks to Hans about the bad review in the news- paper. He even offers Hans advice. The boy will disturb his father because he believes Hans' problem warrants it. B311 characterizes Kinkel through this "sadisticallyuinclina ed” boy. One supposes the boy has taken his cues for his sadistic manner from his father. Before Kinkel himself comes to the Telephone, Hans hears him and his wife arguing in the background and the sounds of a struggle. Then comes sudden quiet, "eine verblutende Stills.” (B311 110) Kinkel, an important Catholic, speaks to Hans in his usual, friendly manner. Kinkel has his Telephone directly under an artifact taken during the war from some church. This symbolizes the hypocritical position Kinkel maintains in life. The Telea phone presents Kinkel the opportunity of wearing a mask of friendliness and concern at a distance, rather than meeting Hans in open faceuto-face confrontation. Kinkel argues with ~25“ Hans about the position of his church concerning Hans' and Marie's former relationship. Hans points out flaws in Kinkel's character. The exchange of opinions becomes heated. Hans tries to get Kinkel to hang up and stop the useless battle of words which Hans is winning, but Hans must finally hang up on Kinkel. Hans realizes that another door is firmly closed to him, and that he must even take it upon himself to close it. It was actually closed in Kinkel's actions and statements, but Kinkel would never agree that this was so. The ringing of the Telephone itself begins the characterization of Zohnerer, Hans' agent: Ich kenne nur einen Menschen, der das Telefon so vital und mannlich ans Klingeln bringen kann: Zohnerer, mein Agent. (B311 133) Zohnerer speaks openly and squarely to the point. He believes in Hans and tells Hans what he will do for him if he will take steps toward regaining his position. Zohnerer points out that he is the last person left to Hans who would spend the money for such a call. He is personally concerned for Hans, and openly truthful abut his position toward him. He is the first person Hans has talked to on the Telephone with whom he would like to speak longer. Hans' virile reactions to these male characters and the abrupt cessations of the conversations are a good con- trast to the conversations with feminine characters. Some characters are never spoken to on the Telephone -26- but play a large background role in the novel. Neither Henriette nor the pope can be reached by Telephone. This puts emphasis on the loneliness suffered by Hans. They and Marie are the symbols of the availability of Being-in-thea world for Hans. He is also not able to call Marie due to the complete falsity of his situation and the necessity for her to act on her own. Hans' mother, a symbol of the forces of society which help destroy idealistic qualities, is a living "dead” person to Hans. She is easily contacted on a superficial, ineffectual level, but cannot be contacted on an intimate, existential level. Henriette symbolizes the better idealism of youth, a contact with some unknown area of Existence. This contact is represented by Henriette's blackouts. Hans' mother told Henriette's teacher over the Telephone concerning her spells: "Ja, ja, hysterisch, das ist das Wort - und bestrafa en Sie sie hart.” (B311 126) Henriette, according to her mother, should be severely punished for something which is out of the realm of her mother's comprehension. Frau Schnier accepts as little responsibility for Henriette's spells as she does for her death, both of which resulted from the home environment. Henriette is physically dead at the time of the novel. She cannot be reached by Telephone, as the theo- logians have not discovered this method of contact yet. -27- That is, the best idealistic qualities of youth are being destroyed by technological advancements and power politics and religionists are not supplying the necessary, equal advance in relationships between human beings. Telephones, money, radical polities, etc. of themselves do nothing for the promotion of good ideals. They, instead, easily lead to the death of any ideals and a loss of the qualities of life deemed by B311 as necessary to the individual's individ- uality. .One is surrounded today with signs and people pro- moting the materialistic wonders as containing the answers to life; but they contain none of the answers needed for meaningful life. They are in themselves a form of death, neither negative nor positive, rather, an unknown. Mankind must add the attributes of quality to exist, which is a job that mankind, according to B311, is failing to do.. The pope, a symbol of another source of truth for Hans, is walled off from real life. He is living a deluded life, but a real Existence. One sees the pope as always there with truths about Existence itself, but easily deceiv- ed about the world: Sicher w3rden sie eine Audienz bekommen, und der arme Papst, der sie mit Meine Tochter und Z3pfner mit Mein guter Sohn anreden w3rde,. w3rde nicht ahnen, dass ein unz3chtiges und ehebrecherisches Paar vor ihm kniete. (B311 161) He cannot be reached by Telephone; therefore, Kinkel and Sommerwild, symbolizing the Catholic church, are his avail- able emissaries, who should be teaching the truth. But, [w 0‘) g instead, they are materialistic hypocrites. Marie and the pope are not the only means to Being» inmthemworld possible for anybody. The arrival of other trains than the one Hans waits for signifies that there are other people than Marie and the pope who are the means to Beingninmthe-world for other individuals. In Hans' situam tion we see the paradox of the religious leaders having one resource to true Beinguinuthemworld for Hans and others, and being able to talk about it; but, in actuality, they are teaching the opposite through their actions and words, indicating a lack of belief in these truths. B311 used colors symbolically in direct relationship with Telephones. His father's Telephones are: Red, for his coal business; Black, for the stock market; and White, for private use. (B311 39) The Red, then, signifies the materially productive, useful part of Herr Schnier's life; Black, the nonwproductive, political, organizedusociety part; and White, the personal, private part. The coal business receives some of his father's attention, but it can run without him, and is only one of many business ventures which he is in that operate on their own: the stock market receives whatever actual interest in life he might muster up, but requires no effort on his part; his family is almost com» pletely left out. Were these colors to be mixed in proporm tion to their part in his life, the result would be a very dark canvas with a tinge of Red showing and enough White to amount of White is t-J make a deep Gray possible. The smal due to the two times he took a decent stand of his own in relation to other people: the time he stood by Hans at his "kitchen trial," and the decision he made to protect a neighbor woman sentenced to death merely for crossing ware time battle lines to buy some food. Hans believes he might be able to qualify for a like mixture of colors, even after his downfall: "Grau mit einem sanften Schimmer von Morgene rot drin." (B311 276) Frau Schnier's two Telephones are also given syma bolic colors: Black, for her position on the "Zentralkomitee der Gesellschaften zur Vers3hnung rassischer Gegensgtze"; and White, for private use. (B311 39) Her whole interest is centered around herself and her "do—gooder" work, without involving any inner commitment on her part. We see no contact on a meaningful, personal level; therefore, the White Telephone is not used. The Telephone as an indifferent, neutral means to the expression of values in this life on earth only obtains solid color symbols when persons use it significantly. Before it is used, it should receive the color Gray, as the sign of possibilities for employment in either direction, a Zuhandene. This concept of Gray is never directly applied to the visible color of a Telephone, as the Telephones are always instruments being used by necessarily nonmneutral human beings. -30, Boll's use of Hans' supernatural ability to receive sense impressions other than hearing is similar to the use of the color of telephones for revealing individual charact- eristics. His mother doesn't give out any Odor, and his father is not spoken to on the telephone before his arrival at the apartment. Odor serves the same function of charact- erization as the telephone and color, and it is a biological function representing the second Plane of Symbolism. It is the artist's prerogative to give a character a supernatural power, which is then to be accepted matter-of- factly as a normal condition. He must, however, keep this power intact and make use of it throughout in a natural manner in order to gain the reader's acceptance of it with« out disturbing the plot. B311 gives Hans the supernatural ability to receive Odors through a telephone line.» Hans reports this casually; he is non-committal: Ich vergass zu erwahnen, dass ich...mit einer... fast mystischen Eigenschaft begabt bin: ich kann durchs Telefon Geruche wahrnehmen...(Boll 17) The important aspects of characterization thus gain power and effectiveness. The telephone transmits these Odors to Hans so well, that he receives them with as much force as if.he were only inches from the other's face: Sofort schlug mir sein Bieratem ins Gesicht. "Verfluoht, Schnier," sagte er (Zohnerer), "was 8011 das, mich so lange warten zu lassen" ... [Hans] "wu'rde es Ihnen etwas ausmachen, wenn Sie Ihr Gesicht etwas vom H3rer abwendeten - -31- ich krieg Ihren Bieratem so unmittelbar ins Gesicht." Er fluchte in Rotwelsch vor sich hin. (3811 135) Zohnerer is an unassuming person who drinks commonplace beer and speaks his mind openly to Hans. The intimate, mascu- linely vigorous style of conversation shows that Hans and Zohnerer understand each other well. Hans' unhesitant request for Zohnerer to turn his head a little could only have been said in this manner to a person who was on a plane of close understanding with him. Beer is not necessarily the symbol of persons Hans likes to be with, as is indicated by the beer drinker standing next to him and Marie after the "wet-boy” episode: Ich ffirchte mich davor, von halbbetrunkenen Deutschen einer bestimmten Altersklasse angesprochen zu werden, sie reden immer vom Krieg, finden, dass es herrlich war...(3811 1&8) He approves of the open, frank expression of oneself, which only then brings out the real person, whom he may not like to associate with, but for whom he has more respect than for the hypocrite. When Hans talks to Monika on the telephone, he smells the perfume she is wearing: "Ich konnte ihr Parffim gut riechen, Taiga, oder wie es heisst, viel zu herb ffir sie.” (B311 239) One surmises that she is wearing the perfume due to some influence on her or some alteration in her character. The change, as noted above, was a re- striction, presumably set by her husband, in her associa— tion with Hans. The sharp, pungent Odor of the perfume -32“ represents the unnaturalness and uncharitableness of the situation she is in. The telephone and odors have served to symbolize characters and situations. The existential significance of these symbols is shown by Hans' use of the telephone in the apartment. Hans' abnormal use of the telephone in getting Monika to play the Chopin Mazurka for him leaves him with a feeling of deep disgust. He has allowed himself to be treated pityingly by injuring his knee, signifying his turn toward ”escape." He also required Monika to make a move which, if done on her own initiative, would have been existentially significant. The decision must have been hers from the first to have had any meaning for her or him. The unauthenticity of his action thus fills him with total dis- gust. This is a return to Unauthentic Existence, and he realizes the significance of it. When Leo calls and fails to assist him, Hans realizes that the last possibility for Being-inmthe-world is gone. The very unlikely return of Marie is his only, slight hope. He realizes that he has lost his contact with any "zuhandenes," and that he must cut himself off from experience until he is able to regain Marie, which is un- foreseeable. The telephone has failed him. He considers himself now "dead," that is, not open to Being-in-the-world. His knee stops hurting, and the swelling starts decreasing, -33a i.e. he has turned again toward Authentic Existence. His lonely decision of "death” is actually the highest existen- tial structural constituent of Being, Contact-withmExistence. Hans' situation is that of the modern existentialist in the midst of the forces of dogmatic religion and power politics. Hans finally rejects the telephone, his last link with Being-in-the-world, and sits on the steps of the rail- road station, hoping for a train from Home that will bring Marie, i.e. B311 waits for the Catholic religion to bring the report of its own SelfnUnderstanding. He is ”im Nichta mehr der entflohenen GStter und im Nochnicht des Kommend- en."22 This chapter established the use of the telephone as a symbol of the modern trend toward highly efficient, readily available methods of communication between practi- cally any two points on earth and the concomitant loss of regard for individual human worth due to the mastery of the material side of life beyond that of the spiritual. People lose their concern for all other individual members of humanity as individuals. Materialistic advances have been misused, increasing the impersonality of human relationships, an existential concern. The supernatural ability to receive odors through the telephone heightened the telephone's effect. We now turn to the structural constituent of Textual-Under- standing, an attempt to discover "zuhandenes" in the novel. 22Erl§uterungen, p. 44. CHAPTER III 3rd PLANE: NUMBER SYMBOLS; TEXTUAL-UNDERSTANDING 3311 uses the number 5 directly twenty-five times in Ansichten eines Clowns. It appears twenty more times in numerical combinations: 50 (B811 54), 500 (B811 108), 25 (B811 130), etc; and several times as a list of five items of a category: five cities (B811 161), five drinks (B811 171% five school subjects (B811 201), five thoughts on Marie's mind (B811 247), five true Catholics (B811 131), etc. Some of the direct uses of the number 5 are: five years of life with Marie (B811 11), five MEEE,(3311 18), five colors (B811 21), five stories to the apartment house (B811 21), etc. Since this number occurs so often and so prominently, it likely contains special significance. Other numbers, such as 3, 4, 7, and 12 occur significantly, but at a much lower frequency. The number 5 has had few directly symbolic meanings attached to it in mythology and religion. The most promi- nent is the Drudenfuss, a five-pointed star which has been and is yet believed by some Europeans to be an effective device against evil, female night-spirits and witches.23 Its magic power derives from the joining of three triangles, sand the fact that it can be drawn with one continuous line. 'There is no direct reference to this meaning in B8ll's novel. k 23"Drudenfuss," Der kleine Brockhaus (Wiesbaden, 1949), hereafter cited as Brockhaus. -35- Most of the world's religions have divided life on earth into five categories, plus God above in a sixth cate- gory.2u Might B811 be referring to this with his symbolism? B811 makes definite references in the novel to the lack of earnestness of the Catholic church of today: ...wenn man anfangt, ihre kaltblfitig verkfindeten ungeheuerlichen Wahrheiten ganz ernst zu nehmen, ist man entweder ein "Protestant" oder humorlos. (B811 162) Sommerwild explains why the pure, clear water of his Bible is not given to men: "Vielleicht," sagte er zittrig, "weil ich - ich bleibe in Ihrem Vergleich - weil ich am Ende einer langen Kette stehe, die das Wasser aus dem Brunnen sch8pft, ich bin vielleicht der hundertste oder tausendste in der Kette und das Wasser ist nicht mehr ganz so frisch...(B8ll 157) This is the problem faced by the existentialist today. The Zuhandene must be understood anew by every individual. The connection of five plus one is lacking in the novel, as is a positive connection between church and the number 5. His recent biographer, Stresau, stresses the fact that B811 has been influenced by Kierkegaard.25 B811 men~ tions Kierkegaard in the novel: Auferstehung des Fleisches und ein ewiges Leben. Oft hatte Marie mir aus der Bibel 2&6. A. Gaskell, A Dictionary of the Sacred Language of all Scriptures and Myth (London, 1923), Preface, here- after cited as Gaskell. 8 25Hermann Stresau, Heinrich B811 (Berlin, 1964), p. O. s36... vorgelesen. Es muss schwer sein, das alles zu glauben. Ich habe spater sogar Kierkegaard gelesen (eine nfitzliche Lektfire ffir einen werdenden Clown), es war schwer, aber nicht anstrengend. (B811 23) Kierkegaard does not present a clearmcut categorizing of his ideas that would fit with the importance B811 attaches to the number 5, and he is as emphatic about Christianity, as it is, as the only solution to life, as B811 is uncertain. B811 had Hans state above, that Kierkegaard was useful for a person becoming a clown, whereas Hans is a clown. Kierkea gaard, as noted in Chapter I, is the beginning of modern existentialism. Heidegger is one of the leading proponents of existential concepts today, signifying the importance he may have for the concept of the existentialist who is exists ing, i.e. Hans as a clown. Preliminary investigation into Heidegger's ideas appears to bring out many more striking correspondences to the novel than any of the other prominent existentialists mentioned in Chapter I. The concept of the four structural constituents of the hermeneutical circle plus the structural constituent of ContactuwithaExistence appears to correlate with the symbols B811 has used. It is not surprising that B811 would make no mention of Heidegger in his work if he consciously used the ideas of Heidegger. Most novelists refrain from using the names of people allied to their field who have influenced their thought and are yet alive, as those people might disagree with the position taken. Also, due to -37- the fact that both B811 and Heidegger are in positions of prominence today, it is most likely that Heidegger's thought has influenced B811's concept of existence and is used, knowingly or unknowingly, in some part of his work. Heideg— ger has not written artistic literary works designed for the general public, as have most of the other existential philo— sophers, but has stated that he considers Rilke a poet who has expressed his type of philosophy.26 Rilke is not alive today, leaving Heidegger without this designated spokesman. Also, Rilke's concept of a growth into death is not the same as the existential break-through into Nothingness and a sudden return to one's own Dasein.27 Might B811 be Heideg- ger's spokesman?. Heidegger had notably National-Socialist sympathies before World War II, but he has had a strong influence on the French existentialists, who were very active against the National-Socialists in the French underground. Heidegu ger must, then, have a message that is above the vicissi- tudes of political ideology. B811 is an anti-Nazi writer, and a veteran of World War II, but rather than desiring the post-war attempt at American democracy, or the false communism of Russia, he is looking for a turn to something new. He desires an individualized Christianity. The Heideggerian existentialism is not Christian as the term is 2~6Fischl, p. 276. 27Fischl, p. 278. -38- used today, any more than B811 desires to be labeled as a member of any one religious group.28 The novel will now be approached in terms of the hermeneutic circle. It will be observed whether the number symbols coincide with the mathematics of the division of Being in Sein und Zeit. The illumination of the Zuhandene, the significant writings of previous individuals, through works such as Ansichten eines Clowns is one goal of the existentialist. B811 has given definite indication of this type of goal through his motto at the beginning of the novel, a passage of Scripture found in Isaiah 52:15 and Romans 15:21: Die werden es sehen, denen von Ihm noch nichts verkundet ward, und die verstehen die noch nichts vernommen haben. (B811 9) This active part of 4 is the novel itself as ”speech," becoming Zuhandene. It contains "zuhandenes" if B811 has written with significant understanding of the Text, the Zuhandene, from a significant experience. The novel should contain at least the basic elements of Sein und Zeit in clear-cut view to the reader on an experiential level in order to be considered the expression of Heidegger's concept. The outer pattern of the novel starts with an assumption of "zuhandenes,” the motto. B811 must prove the "zuhandenes' by creating within the novel an 288cc Heinrich 3311, "Kunst und Religion," in Erzahlu ungenI H8rSpiele,_Aufsatze (K8ln, 1961), 399-403. -39_ experience for himself and for the reader. The result should be a view of the complete isolation of the reader in-the-world, "dread," and a complete concern for others, Care. The move into the apartment in Chapter Two of the novel signifies Hans' Verfallen into the "vorhandenes" of the life of his family. He is left with his list of friends and relatives. He is oneulike-many among those to whom he can look for help toward Authentic Existence. His father's visit is the possibility of moving toward significant experience, 3. But his father fails to help him and Hans fails to present his problem significantly, which causes the return of his father to his former way of life, which is Unauthentic Existence, and Hans' beginning of Self-Under- standing. The call from Leo, his last possibility of Beingm in-the-world, brings about his decision to commit suicide, which is his only existential alternative to an Unauthentic Existence. As he has done in several of his earlier works, B811 leaves his protagonist just over the border of Beings into-Time. The outer form of the novel fits the five structural constituents of Sein und Zeit, but there are many lesser moments to be considered through investigation.of the other levels of symbolism. They should also be existential in the same manner. The condition designated by the hermeneutical arch mug. is indicated by the number 3. The symbol of 3 commonly means completeness, or the three-fold aspect of God to man.29 The Catholics play a prominent role in Hans' setbacks and the number 3 is closely connected to both, giving it negative significance. The Catholic leaders were in the same hotel with Marie for three days talking to her about her ”evil" life with Hans, which resulted in her marriage to Zfipfner (B811 95); Kinkel illegaly possesses three Barockmadonnen and indicates that he will not help Hans get Marie back (B811 111); Hans sees his father only once every three years, due to the Catholic "friends" Hans is always running into in Bonn (B811 180): the final blow dealt Hans by Leo's telephone call comes from a seminary for Catholic priests three minutes before nine o'clock; etc. The number 4 will be considered in conjunction with 3. It is not often used as a symbol today. When it is used, 0 The old concepts of direcm it represents system and order.3 tions, seasons, and the elements were divided into fours. They were given as truth and basic. We now know them to be arbitrary. B811 uses 4 in combination with false views of life, again especially in connection with Catholicism. He has spent three to four weeks per year in the apartment, 29"Three," in The Inter reter's Dictionar of the Bible, ed. George A. Buttrick (New York, 1962), 4 Vol., hereafter cited as Buttrick. 30"Four," Gaskell. sill... which situation we have seen represents Unauthentic Exisfl tence (B811 20); his worst experience with the false reason» ing of his Catholic acquaintances was four years ago (B811 22): four Catholic theologians are named as those whom the Catholics use to present the "vorhandenes" dogma (B811 23): and the view out the fourth floor of the apartment house no longer has the statue in the field of vision while riding up the elevator, indicating the loss of the concept of the individual. The symbolism presented by the apartment is reversed: the rise through mechanical means to the fourth and fifth floors is actually a reversing of Hans' existen- tial situation to 2 and l. The materialist's view of life numbers the most important constituent '1' rather than i. The trivium of the middle ages is the three-part portion of the Seven Liberal Arts. The upper four parts were called the quadrivium, and had the meaning of "the progressing ones." This symbolism parallels a threes dimensional view of the existential idea of Being. If the hermeneutical arch, l to 3, is thought of as a lower plane of the hermeneutical circle, 1 to 4, this arch would be a misshapen part of the circle. The inferior position of 3 in this context might be a relegation of the Christian idea of the Trinity to the lowest existential position of Un- authentic Existence. Being, on this level, would be incom- plete and misleading, with no possibility of Contact-with- Existence. This then would be Marie's unfortunate decision -421 to leave Hans. n the upper level is the hermeneutical circle, the only authentic means to ContactuwithwExistence, "the progressing ones." These two planes, without Contacta with-Existence, would total to seven, which number will now be considered. The number 7 brings to mind the seven sacraments and the seven deadly sins of the Catholic church. B811's possible use of 7 in such a meaning is in line with his castigation of the Catholic church. They omit the most meaningful constituent of Being from consideration, Contact- with-Existence. They have access to it in the "zuhandenes" of Scripture, but don't understand. The seven sacraments without this consideration become more evil than the seven deadly sins with ContactawithuExistence. Hans' illegal life with Marie was considered by him to be a pure relationship, and therefore holy, whereas her relationship with Zfipfner he considers evil. The full consideration of Contaetmwithm Existence makes each moment of Beingain—theuworld of complete significance, denying "zuhandenes" in the "vorhandones" and affirming the "zuhandenes" of the Zuhandene. One must remember that B811 speaks from the viewpoint of close connection with the Catholic church but includes all Christians, in the broadest sense of the term, in his accusations. Some uses of the number 7 in the novel showing the connection with false dogma are: Kinkel, the misleading Catholic theologian, has seven children, i.e. they represent the seven sacraments and modern theological mistreatment of them (B811 112); there are seven people in the dark church, indicating the little real attention given to the teachings of the church (5311 192); Christianity teaches that God rested on the seventh day, but Christ never rested, because he considered the permeation of Existence in all Being (B811 124f); etc. The one instance of the number 12 seems to be quite significant. It indicates the importance of the oneetimem only occurrence 0. any existential moment and the totality of it. Zfipfner has room in his home for twelve children (B811 166). He and Marie have only a few children in the future, signifying his true attempt at a movement toward ContactwwithmExistence within the Catholic teachings, which fail him. Hans considers Zfipfner, finally, a true Catholic, on a level with the pope and Marie. Zfipfner is misled by the church, but acts existentially significantly as far as he can. By marrying Iarie he has determined Hans' situation, and is therefore the cause, directly, of Hans' "death." He is the "other" who makes it possible for Hans to attain complete ContaotwwithwExistence. This "causing" is neither negative nor positive existentially, as this is outside Hans' final position. The completeness of Hans' situation is expressed by the levels of Being, added to the movement into ContactmwithuExistence, in the form of number symbols ich... which total to 12, i.e. 3 + 4 + 5. This third Plane of Symbolism has been relevant to the structural constituent of TextualeUnderstanding. The complete presentation given here attempts to form a Eagle view of the hermeneutical circle in its relation to the novel. The following chapter discusses the color symbols and helps create a more accurate concept. We now enter the fourth Plane of Symbolism, which signifies Selqundera standing. CHAPTER IV hth PLANE: THE COLOR SYMBOLS; SELFuUNDERSTANDING Number symbols create artificial boundaries which make the formation of a world-Time concept easier. Colors help destroy the artificiality. They are more readily pictured as shading into one another, aiding the move toward a concept in out-of-the-world-Time. Diagram Two in Appendix I shows the colors as they relate to the structural constim tuents of Being-in-themworld, the meeting of two poles. The ability of colors to shade into one another in one's mind, and yet to present the appearance of solidity upon necessity helps to illustrate the ambiguousness they can contain. The appearance of solidity in color and actual lack of it corre» sponds to the recognition of "vorhandenes" falsely as "zuhandenes." The experiences of Contact-with-Existence that colors can produce have the appearance of non-solidity, but are the solidity of Existence. This is true on any level of symbolism, but has reached the ultimate in polarity with colors. The "solidity" of the "vorhandenes” of colors will enable me to discuss the symbols as representative of elem ments in the story which are tangible. The non-solidity will make the existential meanings more readily ascertainable. The color symbols are attached meaningfully to all of the structural constituents of Sein und Zeit that I have presented, plus elements of some. I will begin the treat» ment of color 'T~*wls with Gray, a prominent color in the novel. Gray is a common symbol for oldmage. The only really old person in the novel is the old man in the monastery, but he is not connected with any color symbol. Silver is a shade of Gray, and as a symbol it represents the passive, the moon, "treasures in heaven."31 These meanings emphasize the hidden, reserved qualities. As the moon reflects only a portion of the sun's light, so "zuhandenes" reflects only a portion of Existence. The "treasures," being passive, are a mere reflection of the wealth contained in the active. The darkness of Unauthentic Existence, combined with the brightm ness of Authentic Existence results in a Gray, the combina» tion of Black and White. The brightness of "zuhandenes" is in the Zuhandene, and under the "vorhandenes." The hermem neutical circle process actively uncovers this passive "zuhandenes," creating ContactmwithmExistence, White. This ContactuwithmExistence is given expression again in the midst of an unavoidable cloud of "vorhandenes," the never~ beginning, nevermending cycle. Silver meets the requirements of the hermeneutic circle. It is to be considered Zuhandene with a majority of "zuhandenes." Gray, itself, would be a perfect balance. Neutral Gray generally indicates, then, the possibility of meeting the Zuhandene either authentical- ly, the hermeneutic circle, or unauthentically, the hermeu 31"Silver," Gaskell. -47- neutic arch. Although it is not used in connection with old-age, Gray is used frequently in the novel. The Gray bathrobe Marie wears was her mother's, and is in bad condition (B311 53). Her Catholic mother is not alive, representing the loss of the possibility for meaningful contact with the ”zuhanen- es” in life that her father represented. Since the coat is not hers, it represents her acceptance of her situation outwardly, in a pietistic fashion, without discarding the connection with Catholicism. This falseness is a factor in her break with Hans five years later. Hans' Jacket is Gray, and is presented as a com- pletely normal Jacket (3311 68). This is Just after he has spent the first night with Marie, indicating the.understand- ing he has of the Zuhandene of the situation as a part of his Being. He has entered into a life of Contacts-with- Existence through his association with Marie.. The training period he then enters into is a study-ofuText. This leads him eventually to the possibility of the use of White facial make-up for his appearances, symbolizing Contactawith—Exis- tence. The contacts with Marie, the other "true Catholics,” and others of Authentic Existence helped him reach his goal. Kinkel is called "grauer Eminenz" B311 110), which fits his characterization as a theologian. He promotes the Zuhandene falsely, however. He gives the "Vorhandenes" rather than the "zuhandenes." He, then, is teaching the 1.48... hermeneutic arch and is living an Unauthentic Existence. "Grauer Eminenz" is the term given him by others; Hans uses it sarcastically. Wisdom should be present, but isn't. Gray represents, then, Zuhandene, and leads through Black, Unaum thentic Existence. The individual recognizes these structum ral constituents when he is above them, but not while in them. Black commonly signifies ignorance or potential, calamity, gloom, or mourning.32 The common element here is the negative side of a situation. Ignorance is a lack of the utilization of the information necessary to realize the potential. This situation would be regarded as gloomy. A calamity would be the loss of the ability to utilize infor» mation, and this loss would be mourned. This is the Unaum thentic Existence of Pre-Understanding. The individual meets the Text with ignorance, a situation in which the individual is preparedufor-understanding, the potential. A Verfallen back into this state of Being is calamitous and a situation which the individual of Care mourns. Black, then, represents Unauthentic Existence, 3. Hans' mother has a Black telephone which she reserves for "business." Hans ridicules her work on the committee. They are merely the other side of the same, unchanged people who supported the Nazis. Their call then was that each must do his part, "die Jfidischen Yankees von unserer heiligen deutschen Erde wieder zu vertreiben." (B311 30) The lack 32"Black," Gaskell. -49- of use of the White telephone for personal calls indicates the lack of Contact-withaExistence. Hans says she is "dead;‘ meaning that she is an Unauthentic Existence. Black is also directly used to indicate the Catho= lics (B311 260). The meaning is the same. The Catholics Hans refers to are living an Unauthentic Existence, as they do not preach the "zuhandenes." Black as the symbol of ignorance represents the state we are in most of the time. We are ignorant rather than innocent. .The innocent Beings have no possibility yet of access to the "zuhandenes." We are surrounded by it, "taught” it, and concerned with it every waking moment once we have moved into the structural constituent of Pre-Underm standing. It is then up to the individual to make the step into Textual-Understanding. The emphasis on the Black darkness of Marie's bedroom when Hans turned out the light signifies Marie's fall from innocence to ignorance. Child- hood's innocence has been lost and adulthood's struggle for the regaining of this innocence through Contact-withmExisn tence begins the next morning with the Gray dawn. Brown is not used much in symbolism, and is treated as synonymous with Black whenever it is used in religious symbolism.33 Hans' father is the inheritor of the family wealth in the form of Braunkohlenaktien (B311 31), and Hans is referred to as one of the Braunkohlenschniers (B311 104). 33"Brown, " Buttrick. -50- Dark Brown is directly indicated as the symbol for the Schnier family. (B811 260). The combination of colors which produces Brown is Black, Red and Yellow. Black symbolizes that part of the family's life which is Unauthentic Exis- tence. It is the most prominent color in dark Brown. Black, then, is reserved for Hans' Catholic acquaintances, those who live an Unauthentic Existence in their religion, and Brown for those who live an Unauthentic Existence in their wealth. The move from Black is to Green, the symbol of hope in Catholic symbolism. Green generally signifies astral growth, the unification of life-spirit with inanimate 4 growing, fresh, new.35 Newness, beginning-to- matter,3 grow are emphasized in these terms. Photosynthesis is a splendid example in nature of this concept. The plant cells absorb the White light of the sun, combine it with the materials from the Brown or Black earth, in a creative pro- cess in the Green plant. A life-spirit is combined with inanimate matter through the power of the sun's rays, creat- ing new cells. The meeting of an Unauthentically Existing individual with Zuhandene and the subsequent development of Care and Contact-with-Existence parallels photosynthesis. The resulting Zuhandene contains the stored energy, the zu an enes, w c s ava a e o e nex n v ua . ” h d " hi h i 11 b1 t th t 1 di id 1 Humaaneings.carry on a similar process in their minds, 31h'Green," Gaskell. 35"Green," Buttrick. lDL_ placing them in a separate category of creatingaianime. The beginning-tomgrcw is TextualmUnderstanding. In the novel, Hans sees the Green neon sign above the vegetable market outside Marie's window just before turning the light out. (B311 56) This signifies their coming union and the hope that it holds for them of Contact~ with-Existence through their life together, a beginning~to~ grow. Marie had almost always worn a darkaGreen dress, signifying her close tie to the Catholics and the little hope this contained. Her bottlemGreen coat signifies her turn to Hans, toward ContactmwithaExistence. Her old, worn~ out Yellow dress hanging klthe closet is an omen of the ”escape" that she will commit by leaving Hans and marrying Zfipfner. Her dark Blue tailormmade dress shows that on special occasions she will attain heights of "dread." Blue, symbolizing ”dread," and Yellow, symbolizing "escape," follow Green, Textual~Understanding as subudivisicns or different levels of it. Yellow and Blue are the colors which combine to form the color Green in the blending of pigments. The movement and division is not to be understood as sudden, smooth, slow, or rough. All movement is the Timewelement and indefinable except for each individual experience. Marie's treachery is at first only a possibility, as with any Being in meeting with Zuhandene. It grows gradually toward the definite break with Hans. The final break comm pletes the transition to Yellow, and a return to Black, but 952$ the thoughts Hans presents concerning her loneliness in the future, and desire to return to him show that she has the possibility of a change of constituent at any moment. (B311 273) She has become a Being of Unauthentic Existence, and will become an Existing individual in the future. The Blue dress, which she wears on Special occasions, symbolizes Marie's movements through "dread" toward Care. She plays Menschaargeremdichmnicht with Hans for hours and spends Hans' money on old grandmothers. She understands Hans, and attempts to understand herself, but fails. The latter movement, spending Hans' money on others, is Care and active, but pietistic, therefore doomed to failure. The former movement, the gamemplaying, is "dread" and is passive, with the possibility of SelfaUnderstanding. Her decision to live with Hans is a high point of her life. She moved in a few short moments from the dark Green of the hope the Catholic church held for her through her "dread," expressed by her moment of tears, to her and his "aloneness," the time during which she washed the bedding. Thereafter the continual necessity of returning to Bonn for "Catholic air" indicates the necessity for the existentialist to live each moment. The past moments carry no weight for the present. She is trying to recapture previous Contact- with-Existence, which is not existentially authentic. Red is the symbol in religion and mythology for ambition and power.36 Generally, Red indicates the radical 36"Red," Gaskell. m53s left of politics. Those who desire power and those who are in the radical left are not bad in themselves. The movements they make toward their goal is the deciding factor. Their goals may be the goals of Christian dogma, or communist dogma, but their methods may produce false Christianity and false communism. The movements of Verfallen entail both of these: "escape" is the falseness, and common; Care is truth= fulness, and uncommon. Their dogmas are not given value considerations of either "good" or "evil." Hans' trip to East Germany convinces him quickly that the communists do not have anything approaching a "society of individuals." The bulk of the novel is a proof of the lack of individual Beings in the society of West Germany. Red, then, is a movement toward the ideal of Existence. This movement can falter at any time and usually does. Red occurs more often in the novel than any other color, most commonly as a sign of embarrassment. Also, the tennis courts near the Schnier residence are Red. (B811 69) Henriette, Hans' sister, had one of her spells on this court. The Spells were periods of blackout, during which she was in complete contact with Nothingness, Time, Existence. Her close connections with Blue, i.e. Blue coat, Blue dress, Blue hat, would indicate that she made some connection be- tween the tennis courts and Contact-with—Existence. One other spell occurred when the family was playing cards. Her mother made some derogatory remark concerning the spell, and ,gum Henriette merely tossed her hand of cards into the fire. Her mother saved all the cards except the seven of Hearts, which was singed on one corner. The Red in these cases is directly connected with a movement toward ContactmwithaExistence, and would indicate its use for the structural constituent of Self-Understanding. The burned sevenmcard shows the disdain Henriette had of the falsity of modern teachings. .She, who had had ContactuwithnExistence, was innocently rejecting her mother's Unauthentic Existence, which stopped at the heart, the Red of SelfmUnderstanding. The old man at Leo's monastery quoted Hans the verse from the Bible which serves as a motto for the novel. (B311 23“) Hans immediately understood the passage in reference to himself as an isolated person, and drew a Bed circle around this telephone number. He had had a passive exper- ience, which would later help lead to his ultimate move into an existential death. The old man, whom superiors considered "touched," was the only person to offer Hans any real assism tance. The verse was Zuhandene, containing "zuhandenes." Hans met this Text with understanding and gained SelfaUnderu standing from it. The Rust color of the walls, etc. of the apartment indicates the move Hans has made toward Unauthentic Exis- tence from Selwanderstanding. (B611 21) He is making an effort to regain Marie, his hope for continued Beingminmthem world. The Black tile in the bathroom, the Black sofa, and _55a the darkeBrown dresser give emphasis to the fact that experiences in the apartment will tend to lead him toward Catholicism or the Schniermsolution of retraining in order to make money, both of which are Unauthentic Existence. Hans is faced with the great decision of whether to con» tinue this Verfallen into Unauthentic Existence and live like the masses in a "living death," or to take the other alternative-of denying his Beingminathemworld through a complete loss of contact with Beings on an experiential level, an existential suicide, thereby affirming his Existence. (B311 23) The only other existential alternative is the unlikely return of Marie. White, the symbol of Existence, and the related symbols of movement into Existence will be treated separate- 1y in the next chapter, the fifth Plane of Symbolism. Finally, the burning cigarette will bring all the consti- tuents of Being into one concise symbol. CHAPTER V 5th PLANE: THE COLOR SYMBOLS; CONTACToWITHnEXISTENCE: THE CIGARETTE White is the symbol for purity, perfection,37 the attire of the inhabitants of heaven, and glory.38 These meanings are expressions of an unknown quality, an ideal. The Webster definition, "lack of color," is White as we normally think of it. Webster also states that White is physically a combination of the full spectrum of colors. Black is the lack of any color and the absorber of all colors. It is the darkness of ignorance, as shown above, which can absorb knowledge without returning any— thing. White is a giver of colors, the ”pure” source. The pure is that which lacks impurity; perfection, imperfection; gknwy ignominy; heaven, hell; White, Black. All of these represent an idealistic polarity. The physics of colors proves the relationships to be the same physically as they have been represented here symbolically. The three basic colors - Red, Yellow, Blue - are the constituents with which all other colors are made. Black is the lack of these; White is the complete combination of them. The above-listed ideals are combinations of life—on-earth pre- sented in such a manner that the goal of life can be reached 37”White," Gaskell. 38"White," Buttrick. a57l and the opposite pole avoided. This is a parallel to the physical relationships of colors. In a like manner, the combined structural constituents of Being present a Contacta withaExistence. Unauthentic Existence exerts an attraction on the individual, increasing as he approaches Existence, and it can absorb all the efforts of the individual into its own unauthenticity, as Black absorbs White. The individual senses that his own individuality is dependent upon reaching a ContactmwithaExistence, and always feels an opposing attraction. Hans paints his face White at the end of the novel, symbolizing his existential death. (3811 281) He has thrown away the last coin of the money he had earned, symbolizing a rejection of his career without Marie. The color Gold represents the sun, active, Divine Wisdom, celestial truth, that above the mental plane, "tream sures in heaven."LLO These meanings represent the active movement into a ContactmwithuExistence. The Being starts over again immediately at the opposite end of the circle, or the same end in the other direction, depen ing on the concept of polarity. The "thrownness" intomthemworld is an unending movement until physical death. Each moment of Contactuwith-Existence is determined on its own merits. All other moments in the same Being are unimportant; the present moment is the only moment. The "treasuremin-heaven” could be the incorporation of this moment into the Zuhandene. “O"Gold," Gaskell. asga Blond, or Golden hair is the symbol appearing most often for movementcintOmContactawithuExistence in the novel. Leo, who definitely is a person of Unauthentic Existence, has Blond hair, and wears a White sweater and a Red shirt at one point in the novel. These are all signs of Authentic Existence, which is the paradox Hans is referring to when he ridicule's Leo's use of colors: Ein solcher Anblick a wenn ich sehe, wie jemand vergeblich versucht, gelockert auszusehen a verm setzt mich immer in tiefe Melancholie...(B311 71) Leo's hair indicates a natural inclination to reach for ContactuwithuExistence, but the other colors don't fit him, as he seeks it in the Unauthentic Existence of a monastery. Blond can also be construed to mean the same as Yellow, in which case the hair would indicate the life of ”escape" Leo leads. Yellow also signifies a melancholy mood, which is a part of Hans' normal condition. The uses of Gold in the novel seem to indicate this condition of melancholy or Care. In terms of the hermeneutic circle this would be the point of turning from facing one‘s own Existence to view the rest of humanity as individuals from one”s own position of coma plete individuality. Hans gives evidence of this Care when he states that he would even cry at his mother's grave. (B511 286) At Derkum's grave he practically lost control of himw self. These thoughts indicate his Care for those in the condition of Unauthentic Existence as well as those of Authentic Existence. - - . p‘ . .- I, 3 v . ‘ ‘n-nJ .n v n was: ,- -.;‘- s 7- Pdrple is a combination of Blue and Red, and inii- cates distinction, royalty, wealth.”1 The existentialist's idea of these meanings is a movement into Contactmwitha Existence. Just as royalty is seldom seen among men, so is Existence seldom attained. Wealth is in moments of ContactwwithuExistence, not in material goods. Hans says that Purple is not a good color for women to wear, but that Marie can wear it. (B311 277) The active movement into Existence doesn't become most women, as they must usually move instinctively, indicated by pinkish Red, the common color of Roses. Roses are the symbol of Christ and the ordering of the sepal leaves led to the pentagram, the fivem pointed star.u2 Zfipfner, acting purely instinctively, sent Marie Roses (B811 168); the nun said a Rosenkranzgebet at Marie's side in the hospital (B311 238); and Roses are put on Henriette's grave by Edgar Wieneken (B311 285) — all of which are existentially significant, instinctive actions. The colors are now complete. The Cigarette, as a symbol which contains the main color symbols, and the Cigar, its opposite, will now be investigated. B511 uses White, as shown above, to represent the attainment of Existence. The symbol which represents such a combination of structural constituents of Beingmin-them world in Contactmwith—Existence is the Cigarette. The #1 #2 "Purple,” Gaskell. "Hose," Brockhaus. Q60“ opposite polar symbols are the Cigar and the Telephone. The latter was treated in Chapter II and will not be discussed here. The Cigar needs clarification of its use in the novel. Sohnitzler is an Unauthentic Existence who "writes," but never produces. He lived off Hans' mother for months at a time a and smoked Cigars. (B311 #2) Cigars are dark Brown or Black, which fits the color symbol for Unauthentic Exis- tence. Kinkel, discussed above, also smokes a Cigar and is an Unauthentic Existence. ans' father should smoke Cigars due to his osition, but he smokes Cigarettes. B311 spends several lines explaining this incongruity. (B311 171) The best argument for the situation is that his father is the only person who was kind enough to come to see Hans at the apartment. He did so without being called first by Hans, which is an existential move. The position he maintains would call for a Cigar, but the moment of the present is decisive for existentialism. The Cigarette is at the opposite pole of B3ll's symbolism. Hans teaches Marie to smoke Cigarettes. (B311 54) He is symbolically showing her the path toward Contactmwithu Existence. Zfipfner became embarrassed at the pointed cone versation of the Catholics in front of Hans. (B811 108) He asked Hans for a Cigarette, the first of his life, to help ease Hans' situation and show his Care. The acceptance of the Cigarette symbolized the moment of ContactwwithmExism tence. s'ls The attempts of persons of Unauthentic Existenc' to spend a little Time sig M11 ant ly during their evening's rest made Hans angry. (Bell 1.21) They made a farce out of that on which Hans based his whole life. The manner in which they lit their Cigarettes irritated Hans. Their approach to ContactmwithmExistence was false and a degradaa tion of it. The polarity is thus present, but beyond this, the burning Cigarette presents a splendid example of a come prehensive sy'mcol. B31 makes pointed, symbolic reierences to the Cigarette throughout the novel, as seen above. Hans is hardly ever without a igarette, and ends up at the station with only one left. I would like to present a possible interpretation of the burning Cigarette as viewed existenm tially, and then the Cigarette in Hans' final situation. The White wrapping of the Cigarette is the "zuhandm ones," the manwmade part. It ocntains the " :r'audc -3," the Brown or Black tobacco. These two form thv Ci ga reii e (11 before it is burned; t is the Zuhandene. Martin Derkum was Hans9 friend, the only man Hans ever kissed. He had discussed many ideas with Hans and helped Hans form his concepts of life. When Hans took his leave to follow Marie, Derkum gave him two packs of Cigan rettes, signifying the ideas Derkum had given Hans which would help him live existen ially, as Derkum does. This is the most intimate association Hans has with any man, include ing his father. Derkum has symbolically given Hans and eggs Marie his blessing. It is up to them to make use of that blessing and create Existence. They must recogni7e the significance of the "zuhandenes" of Derkum’s ideas. i.e. the White of the Cigarettes. They must not dwell on words. or sound. or physical representations. i.e. the Brown tobacco. They will create ContactsmwithmExistenoe by smoking the Cigarettes together. As a Cigarette is lit. the heat of the matoh first Blackens the White wrapper and Brown tobacco into a charred condition. which. when it reaches a certain temperature. be» gins burning. Were this process to fail to reach the burn» ing temperature. only Black. charred material would be left. This is the Unauthentic Existence. the condition of possim bilitymomeeing. This condition is shown in the novel while Hans is talking to Sommerwild on the telephone. Hans has been in the bathtub and gets the Cigarette wet. It doesn‘t burn properly. and is about o go out. which would leave a Black char. Finally. Sommerwild deals Hans the low blow of reminding him that although Hans may have a strong drive to remain monogamous. evidently Marie doesn't have suoh a drive. Hans spits out his Cigarette; the Red coals fall apart and burn Black holes in the carpet. Sommerwild has been trying to get Hans to give up Marie and find some other girl. Hans. by spitting the Cigarette out. signifies that he is through trying to live inmthemworld. and discards efforts of others that would lead him to Unauthentic Existence. Hans sees his situation with Mario in full light now. Black holes in Q53” the carpet signify his rejection; he can no longer attempt to live inuthewworld without Marie. He, therefore, is left without the ability to smoke, a symbol of Beingainmthewworld. The nebulous, Blue smoke curling from the Cigarette is a sign of good combustion taking place, resulting in WhitishuGray ashes. This symbolizes the difficult, easily avoided path of "dread,” which can result in "zuhandenes” in Zuhandene. Marie moves her Cigarette in little arcs, create ing little points of Blue smoke, which symbolize the deoia sions she is making as she talks of leaving Hans. (B811 92) The Red resulting from heating to the temperature of combustion signifies Selchnderstanding. The individual is moving toward a moment of ContactmwithmExistence which he cannot observe, make any Judgments about, or repeat. He can only sense that it is something desirable and know that the world as he otherwise perceives it is non-existence. The Red coals signify the beginning of a process which can lead to the best combustion, White heat. Whether they do or not is not observable, as Existence is not observable. The individual act of combustion hidden within the glowing coals may have a moment of high temperature as the smoker draws on the Cigarette, increasing the rate of combustion. Also, as the smoker draws on the Cigarette the Blue smoke is pulled back through all the previous categories: Red, Black, Brown, and White. This signifies the permeation of Existence through all Being. ‘64... The WhitishaGray ashes, the Zuhandene, are not use- able in their present state for a repeated process of com- bustion. This signifies the uselessness for any individual of the Zuhandene without exegesis, directly or indirectly. Hans is left with the one Cigarette as he sits on the steps of the railroad station. He need not smoke it, as he is in Contact-with-Existence out-of-the-world. The non- burning Cigarette represents his last possibility of contact with Being-in-the-world, Marie. His fortune is the one "extended moment" in which he now exists, the continual refusal to make unauthentic use of the Cigarette. People walking by Hans unwittingly recognize his position and toss coins and Cigarettes. Hans displays the one Cigarette as a sign that he will accept the easiest contribution they can give. These people are living unau- thentically and don't realize the value of Existence. They will, however, give Hans the means to Existence, tossing it casually. The only contribution we see Hans receive is a coin, which knocks the Cigarette out of position. Money, the symbol of "escape" for many, tends to wreck the impor» tant placement of the Cigarette, Contact-with-Existence. Hans accepts the coin as a means to physical life, but he readjusts the Cigarette, showing that the acceptance of the coin has not changed his position in Existence. The Cigarette is near the rim of the hat; it is not in the center and is not at the edge. It lies there, "als -55- ware sie von oben geworfen worden." (B311 302) Individuals, according to existentialism, are "thrown" into this world from ”above." Being-in-the-world is a mid-position, a uni- fication of opposites. Existence is found on the rim of Being-in-the-world; Hans is on the rim of society, a totally rejected individual. Hans "exists" just at the edge of ' Being-in-the-world. He has‘realized his existential com- pleteness by creating his own Existence. The Cigarette, then, symbolizes his lost position of Beingain-the-world, as it is not burning. CONCLUSION B811's symbolism corresponds to a very high degree with Heidegger's structural constituents of Being. No exceptions were discovered. Heidegger and B311 seemingly arrive at concepts which parallel the teachings of the Catholic church, or Christianity in general. This is not surprising, as they must base their thinking on previous training - Catholic for both - in order to attempt to convey their concepts to other men. The use of language is neces- sarily symbolic,and meaning arises from all aspects of life. Heidegger attempts to avoid this by creating his own termi- nology, but the similarity is not only denied by new words but is also emphasized by old concepts. The "worldliness" seems inescapably present in communication. The proper concept of the hermeneutic circle in» cludes the recognition of the permeation of all elements through all constituents. The individual recognizes these as being there all along when he creates his own Being and becomes fully conscious of the situation. The diagrams which were given at the beginning have lost all meaning when the instantaneousness of situations and the permeation of one element through all constituents are recognized, as somewhat shown by the use of color symbols. The actions and statements of characters are given a degree of these qualities of instantaneousness and permeation when it is recognized that the whole action takes place through the @675 thoughts of one person on one evening. Heidegger's three essences of temporality have not been considered, but investigation into this area is now possible. Hans relates past, present, and future occurrena ces, and speaks of the difficulties of the recognition of the truth in the historical. The matter of Time in its relation to all the previously discussed situations in Heidegger's thought and Bgll's symbolism appears to be ground for further inquiry. This would be a very difficult task and possibly very fruitful. The investigation would necessarily be Beingwcentered, the situation established by the present work, and Time~criented, the concepts devel- oped in the second part of Sein und Zeit. Heidegger desired to investigate the qualities of Time outside any "worldliness." He has never succeeded in this endeavor, as has no one else. The difficulty lies in the human position of necessarily being bound by "worldli- ness." An escape from the world would leave him without bases from which to work or communicate. Heidegger bangs °against the same wall that every previous thinker has hit. The hope is that he has made a small step onto the border on a philosophical, or phenomenological ontological level and recognized something not previously understood and not yet made generally available. The poets Rilke and HSlderlin, among possible others, seem to have made this step. The way is being prepared for that mind which can unify the advanced -68- discoveries of science, philosophy, psychology, and art, in whatever age they appeared, in a form which is comprehensi» ble to others and applicable to further advances. Whether Heidegger or B311 have added anything to knowledge may at first be answered by the paradoxical statew ment that they have added by detracting. The detraction of an accumulation of incorrect thinking on old Texts is surely "adding" this knowledge by restoring its utility. Both return to us a more exact view of Being and perhaps the possibility of attaining a more accurate concept of Time. B311 is closely tied to Catholic symbolism and to contemporary thought, possibly too closely. He is gradually creating a symbolism of his own, which will be fruitful if he is creating thoughts of his own. He shows the possibility of doing this. One can only read, wait,_observe, and hope. My final comment must be that I view a thorough investigation into B811's use of symbolism in all of his works, and in their relation to Time, as being important for the comprehension and interpretation of his future works of a more esoteric nature. Should they appear, they would be rewarding to man in his eternal search for the answers to the eternal questions. APPENDIX I DIAGRAM ONE: HEIDEGGER'S HERMENEUTIC CIRCLE All arrows indicate: Geworfenheit, Verfallen, Schuld. Textual» . Understanding "fear" b. m® c. "escape" 3o a. "dread" — \ \ I \ f, / ' \ , ’/, / "escape" Unauthenticw‘ _.. "" ‘ Existence ' / \ Q Self- L - Undersanding "‘ Pre- / 6"" \ Understanding b.' \ b. ¢ /’ ”escape" ”dread" l // ‘KEZ' ) t. V "escape" Care I Zuhandene / a. "zuhandenes" kt . Contaotu» b. "vorhandenes" / K with- /’ lxistenoe Existence , Death, Nothingness s70” DIAGRAM TWO: BBLL'S COLOR SYMBOLS \ \ ® b. Blue a. Green .—-\\§\ ‘\ \. lc.*¥ellow \ Gray a. Black b. White P P u i \ r n \p k | Geld .White APPENDIX II HEIDEGGERIAN TERMINOLOGY BEING-INoTHEaWORLD = ContactmwithmExistence; Existence brought intOmtheaworld through complete Selfm Understanding. CARE = Sorge; complete concern for all others through a realization of their condition as like one's own. CONTACT-WITH-EXISTENCE = the moment of full realization of one's Authentic Existence and the Existences of others. DEATH Existence: unauthentic "death" is "death” determined by others resulting in continuous lack of Contact- with-Existence; authentic "death" is "death" deter“ mined by oneself, resulting in a continuous Cnntactu withmExistence. DREAD I! The increasing apperception of the situation of all individual Beings as "lost" and ”alone.” ESCAPE = The movement away frcm "fear" and a realization of "dread" back to a condition of Zuhandene and Unaum thentic Existence. EXISTENCE = That which is outsidemthemworld and which perm meates Being; Time; ”death." FEAR = The awareness of the individual's possibility of individuality, his "lostness"; loss of any certainty about life. GEWORFENHEIT = Thrownness; the situation of Being as separaw ted from Existence, which continues in the movement of Verfallen toward reunion with Existence. “72‘ LANGUAGE Any form of expression containing "zuhandenes." LOSTNESS The condition of being alone; an understanding of the self as having no contact with the ”other.” NOTHINGNESS = The "lostness" of the individual of under» standing is due to the incomprehensibility of that which is outside Being-in-thenworld; the incompre- hensible; Existence. PRE-UNDEHSTANDING = The individual of Unauthentic Existence is in a condition of being able to understand a Text if he chooses to do so. SCHULD = The fact of separation from Existence. SPEECH = The quality of "language” which expresses the con- cept that was in the speaker's mind; synonymous with the concept; the concept as an expression of Being; the expression of individuality. 'SELF-UNDERSTANDING = The awareness of the Verfallen or Geworm fenheit of Being; the awareness of Schuld. TALK = Zuhandene before it is recognized as containing "zum handenes." TEXTUAL UNDERSTANDING = The individual meets the Text and understands that "zuhandenes" is present; sensing the possibility of Nothingness and realizing one's own "fear," leading to "escape” or "dread." UNAUTHENTIC EXISTENCE = The individual recognizes himself as one-likemmany, as a human Being, but does not recognize his individuality and "lostness." nyji UNDERSTANDING = An active development of one's own awareness of the situation as it is. VERFALLEN = The movement contained in Beingwinmtheuworld as movement toward Existence, having its origin in Existence. VORHANDENE = Elements of the universe which are a "given" to human Beings; the "worldly"; the background of the Zuhandene. VORHANDENES = The quality of "worldliness"; always present in-theaworldness of Zuhandene. ZUHANDENE = Thatmwhichuisuleft of Being by other Beings as a result of civilized living; human monuments, in the broadest sense of the term. ZUHANDENES = The essence of thatmwhichmismleft which is determined by ContactmwithaExistence. LISI OF WORKS CONSULTED PRIMARY SOURCES B311, Heinrich. Ansichten eines Clowns. Koln, 1963. B811, Heinrich. Erzahlungen,gH3rSQiele, Aufsatze. K81n, 1961. Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time, transl. John Macquarrie and Edward Robinson. London, 1962. Heidegger, Martin. Erlauterungen zu Halderlins Dichtung. 2nd rev. ed. Frankfurt am Main, 1951. Heidegger, Martin. Sein und Zeit. 7th unrev. ed. Tfibingen, 1953. SECONDARY SOURCES Beitl, Richard, ed. Warterbuch der deutschen Volkskunde. Stuttgart, 1955. Blackham, H. J., ed. Reality, Man and Existence: Essential Works of Existentialism. New York, 1965. Buttrick, George A., ed. [The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. h vols. New York, 1962. Dahlstr3m, C. E. W. L. "The Analysis of Literary Situationfi' Publications of the Modern Language Association, pi (1936)! 872‘8890 Der Kleine Brockhaus. 2 vols. Wiesbaden, l9h9. Fischl, Johann. Idealismmgfi Realismus und Existegtialismus der Gegenwart. Graz, 195b. Gadamer, Hansteorg. "Vom Zirkel des Verstehens," Martin Heidegger zum siebzigsten Geburtstag, ed. Gfinther Neske. Pfullingen, 1959, pp. 24m3h. Gaskell, G. A. A_Dicticnary of the Sacred Language of all Scriptures and Myths. London, 1923. Ott, Heinrich. "What is Systematic Theology?" New Frontiers in Theologys Discussions among German and American Theologians, Vol. I3 The Later Heidegger andmgheg: llggy, ed. James M. Robinson and John B. Cobb, Jr. New York, 1963, pp. 7?mlll. Stresau, Hermann. Heinrich B51 . Berlin, 196h. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 1293 03056 0886