Little Man, What Now?

As Germany descends into right-wing fascism, Emma is raised in a distinctly left-wing, pro-labor household. Her father and brother speak often and openly about political matters; their views on the importance of labor solidarity are echoed by Emma’s comments later in the novel as she encourages Johannes to adopt workplace solidarity even though she has never had a real job of her own. Whereas Johannes never really engages with politics out of anything more than an emotional reaction to whatever has happened to him most recently, Emma is sincere in her support for the Communist Party.

Emma leaves her family once she learns that she is pregnant. She marries Johannes in a small and hastily organized ceremony, then begins to think about her future, as well as the future that she wants for her child. She is not shy about predictions: She immediately assumes that her baby will be a boy and she chooses the name Markel just a few months into the pregnancy. Markel dominates Emma’s thoughts, and every financial and professional decision the couple makes is conditioned on what Emma wants for her baby’s future. She forbids alcohol and cigarettes in the house, for example, and demands that they move out of their first home because she does not want Markel to grow up in such a place. Markel becomes the cornerstone of Emma’s identity. Not only does she begin to conceive of herself as a mother more than anything else, but Markel provides her with an opportunity to live vicariously. Through her son, she can experience the kind of childhood that she never experienced for herself. Markel becomes a vehicle for Emma’s ambitions; he is a way for her to achieve whatever she was too poor, too feminine, or too young to achieve.

Emma struggles with her newfound role as Johannes’s wife. She does not know how to cook, keep house, or manage the household budget. However, she has a fundamental conception of how a wife should act, so she strives to play this role to please her husband. Eventually, however, this attempt to play a role is blown apart by Economic Collapse and Societal Breakdown. When Johannes loses his job, Emma becomes the breadwinner. She goes out to work while he stays home, inverting their previous, more traditional roles of husband and wife. Emma works long hours for very little pay but she does so selflessly, sacrificing herself to support the family during their desperate poverty. She also provides Johannes with emotional support. When he loses his sense of identity, she reminds him of the love of his family and encourages him to adopt this as his new identity. This emotional maturity illustrates the extent to which Emma grows as a character.

Holger Jachmann is a charming criminal. He enters the story through his association with Mia Pinneberg, Johannes’s mother. Mia introduces him to the young couple as her “lover at present” (110). While Johannes has no real relationship with his father, he develops a bond of sorts with Jachmann, who takes pity on him and Emma. Jachmann is capable of genuine empathy, which motivates him to give money and advice to Johannes. He not only secures Johannes a job at the department store but he also makes regular monetary gifts to the young couple. When they attempt to sneak out of Mia’s house, Jachmann catches them. Rather than alert Mia, he helps them to exit in secret. Though he is devoted to Mia, he acknowledges that neither he nor Mia are good people. Unlike Johannes and Emma, Jachmann does not seek to conform to social expectations. He runs card tricks and other schemes; he breaks the law and is richly rewarded for doing so. The only time he is actually punished is when he is sent to prison for 12 months, though he returns to his old illegal practices as soon as he is released. A year spent in prison is evidently worth the riches gained from breaking the law.

Jachmann’s character provides an important element of the novel’s social critique, challenging society’s assumption that what is moral is necessarily lawful. Contrary to his assessment of himself, Jachmann is moral in many ways, helping those most in need and demonstrating sincere empathy in a time of economic turmoil. However, the wealth he uses to help others is gained through illegal means. Jachmann’s desire to help Johannes and Emma can be interpreted as a form of penance, in which he recognizes their desire to live according to the rules and provides them with compensation as a way of offsetting his infractions. That he feels the need to do so suggests that he is disillusioned with society’s ability to deal with men like him.