H. Adler: The Wall

This page:Arthur awakens the morning after his first night at Anna’s while calling out Franziska’s name. Anna fixes him breakfast, while Arthur is anxious about what to do next. Anna suggests that he move in with Peter. She also suggests that he write to friends abroad and try to emigrate, which she eventually hopes to do as well.

This page:At Peter’s place, Arthur tries to start work on his sociology of oppressed people, but he struggles until the return of his earlier drafts, which were carefully preserved by Franziska at the start of the war.

This page:Segue to Arthur at work on his book in the metropolis while struggling to find support for it, especially when others urge him to take a menial job in order to support his family. Deeply frustrated at not being able to find a viable place in society, despite his constant written appeals for help, Arthur writes a short story called “The Letter Writers.”

This page:“The Letter Writers”

This page:Arthur continues to reflect on his inability to gain support for his work. Eventually Professor Kratzenstein does agree to meet him, but all Kratzenstein is willing to do is invite Arthur to the working group of the International Society of Sociologists, rather than invite him to lecture, as he had earlier promised. Kratzenstein recommends that Arthur seek the help of Dr. Singule and Dr. Haarburger.

This page:At Frau Haarburger’s urging, Arthur visits Dr. Singule, who is of little help. All he can do is recommend that Arthur seek the help of Kratzenstein, which he has already done. Frau Singule sends him home with some chocolate for Johanna.

This page:Arthur next visits Herr and Frau Saubermann, philanthropists who own a factory that manufactures artificial beads. Johanna, too, is invited to their home to talk about the possibility of getting work in the factory, even though she is pregnant with her first child. However, Frau Saubermann scolds Arthur for being too proud to seek out work himself in order to support his family.

This page:Arthur then goes back to the Haarburgers to ask for further support. Frau Haarburger is upset to hear how badly the visit with the Singules went, nor does Dr. Haarburger have anything left to give him.

This page:Penniless and destitute, Arthur thinks of himself as a fallen Adam who, in essence, does not exist.

This page:Four years after his arrival in the metropolis, Arthur meets with Siegfried Konirsch-Lenz, another philanthropist who offers to help him, but only by offering to hire him to do menial work in his wallpaper manufacturing business, which Arthur refuses. He and Johanna return to West Park Row.

This page:On West Park Row, Arthur reflects on how he still exists among his neighbors, who are more decent to him than his so-called friends and supporters, and decides that there is nothing to do but press on with his work.

This page:Segue back to Arthur’s work in the museum in his native city, where he thinks of the people in the portraits as patients who have survived, much to the horror of Frau Dr. Kulka, who sees the portraits simply as objects.

This page:Herr and Frau Lever from Johannesburg arrive at the museum, having fled the old city before the war. Arthur gives them a tour of the hermitage, a former synagogue that had been converted by the occupying forces to house dioramas with wax figures depicting the customs of the people they had deported and killed. Along the way they meet Professor Hilarius Prenzel, Arthur’s old high-school teacher, and the man who betrayed him to the authorities in his earlier nightmare about returning. In the museum, Arthur explains the creation of the dioramas in detail, as if he were present at the time the work was done. The Levers are amazed by it all, while Arthur feels trapped within.

This page:Segue to Arthur’s arrival in the metropolis, where at the train station he is met by the scholar Oswald Bergmann, who has changed his name to Birch, and his sister, Inge, a poet and an illustrator. So-and-So is also there to welcome him. Arthur thinks back to Oswald’s reluctance in responding to his letters and pleas from the old city but forgives him and is pleased to see him at the station. Otto Schallinger, a classmate of Arthur’s from middle school, is also there to greet him, along with Dr. Haarburger, who then leaves. The rest all head to Oswald Bergmann’s home, where Arthur falls asleep, exhausted by his journey. When he wakes up, Oswald and So-and-So suggest that they go to a restaurant for dinner.

This page:Segue to Arthur and Fräulein Zinner arriving at a restaurant for dinner. They talk of their lives and work, and Arthur proposes marriage and Johanna accepts. They leave the restaurant and walk arm in arm through the city, talking of their future, before Johanna heads home on the subway.

This page:Arthur walks home and writes to Anna about his engagement to Johanna. He then falls asleep, thinking that he is on the threshold of a new beginning, but still feeling everything is in flux.

This page:Once again, Arthur meets with Konirsch-Lenz, who continues to berate him about the need to get a paying job and to accept the assistance of an organization called Self-Help. Again, Arthur refuses, but this time he feels liberated in doing so.

This page:Arthur thinks of Otto Schallinger, who often visits him and Johanna, finding in their home a vestige of the Old Country that he does not find elsewhere in the metropolis.

This page:While strolling along after leaving Konirsch-Lenz, Arthur thinks of his friends and how little help they have been, beginning with Oswald Bergmann, and then So-and-So.

This page:Arthur thinks of all the charlatans he has met in the metropolis, the worst being Eberhard S., who managed to convince him to write for his journal Eusemia for a pittance. He then calls Johanna to say that he has left Konirsch-Lenz and is on the way home, which pleases her. On the way, however, he muses about his failure.

This page:Segue back to Herr and Frau Lever, who are about to leave the museum. They ask what Arthur’s last name is and, upon learning that it is Landau, remember buying clothes in his father’s shop. Herr Lever reveals that his name used to be Lebenhart, which causes Arthur to remember two portraits bearing that name in the museum. The Levers then insist on seeing the portraits and claim them as their own, though the museum refuses to release them. In the middle of heated discussions about this, a Mrs. Mackintosh arrives to ask if she can purchase some of the furniture that is stored in the museum, though Herr Schnabelberger will not allow it. Arthur then takes the Levers to see the portraits of their relatives. Nonetheless, the museum denies their request.

This page:Frau Dr. Kulka comes to Arthur’s office to accuse him of betraying the museum in telling the Levers about the portraits. At the end of their conversation, all Arthur wants to do is flee this life and this city for good.

This page:While waiting for Anna to arrive at the museum, Arthur thinks of his life as one that is constantly in flight, forever on the move, and realizes that he can truly exist only within his own intellect and mind.

This page:Stirred from sleep on West Park Row, Arthur awakens to the mailman delivering a letter from Anna saying that Helmut has died and asking if she can come to Arthur and Johanna. Another package contains a book titled Stereotyping Through Prejudice , which carries a jacket comment from Professor Kratzenstein that Johanna and Arthur find pretentious. Another letter is from Resi Knispel, saying she would like to talk to Arthur about a project that she has in mind for him.