Of the novel «The Lost One» by the German writer Hans Ulrich Treichel was released in 1998 and covers that Fate of a family in the post-war period. The story is told from the point of view of a twelve-year-old boy, whereby the book title can also be understood as an allusion to the parable of the prodigal son from the Bible.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is a story told by Jesus based on the Gospel of Luke. In the story, the younger son demands the inheritance from his father and then squanders it. He becomes a beggar and longs for his father’s house again. At the same time, he is very ashamed, but still returns home. His father is happy about the return of his youngest son, who was thought dead, and throws a party. The older son, who has always been at his father’s side during this period, laments the behavior. But his father replies that he should be happy that his younger brother, who he believed dead, has returned safely.
The Lost – synopsis
The action takes place in a small town in East Westphalia post war period (Mid 1950s to early 1960s).
Older brother Arnold
At the beginning of the story, a photograph is described that shows the prodigal son Arnold on a woolen blanket. This is the older brother of the first-person narrator and apparently starved to death while the family was fleeing from Russian soldiers towards the end of World War II. The picture is the only thing the family has left of the prodigal son.
Of the first-person narrator is proud of his allegedly deceased brother and the circumstances of his death as it sets him apart from his playmates. At the same time, however, he is tired of the fact that his mother cries every time she looks at Arnold’s picture – the pictures of the first-person narrator are always quickly skipped over.
A few years go by and the mother explains to the first-person narrator about the true circumstances of the flight from the East: Arnold is not dead at all, but is only missing. The mother then put the child in the arms of a strange woman when the refugee convoy was taken out by the Russian soldiers. She didn’t even have the opportunity to confide the child’s name to the strange woman.
This decision weighs heavily on the entire family and the first-person narrator realizes that he only plays a marginal role in this structure. That Feelings of guilt and shame runs – according to the narrator – through his entire childhood. As an example, he cites the family’s regular Sunday walks, which, however, were always accompanied by a negative atmosphere. At some point, the first-person narrator took refuge in motion sickness so that he no longer had to take part in such activities.
The history of the family
The first-person narrator spends his time listening to the radio, occasionally discovering Russian stations. However, the father disapproves of television, so that the first-person narrator can only watch with the mother from time to time. The family organizes a big pig’s head dinner twice a year, to which acquaintances from the East are regularly invited. The first-person narrator is disgusted by the consumption, but enjoys the happy mood of the family on these holidays. Only the mother continues to appear very depressed and introverted.
The parents take refuge in contrasting activities. While the mother is getting calmer and quieter, the father decides to renovate the entire house. The family experiences it economic boom of the 1950s with and benefit financially from it. For the narrator, these successes are reflected in the father’s ever-growing cars. At this time, the father also had a strong urge to start his career as a grocer and was doing further training as a wholesaler. Eventually he becomes a wholesaler of meat products, and his business grows rapidly.
Foundling number 2307
The parents’ hope for a happy family idyll increases when they come across foundling number 2307. This has a great Resemblance to the lost Arnold and the parents make intensive efforts to uncover possible family relationships. For this purpose, tests are carried out in which blood samples and fingerprints be removed. These many procedures are somewhat reminiscent of the National Socialist racial hygiene.
National Socialist eugenics or hereditary health theory was used in Germany at the time of National Socialism to radically implement the ideals and ideas of the Nazi leadership. For this the applied Nuremberg Racial Laws as a basis: the National Socialists adopted it marriage bans between Germans and non-Germans, as well as forced sterilizations with various diseases in the population. The aim was to use this separation to influence the gene pool of the German people to such an extent that only «positive» genetic information could be inherited.
However, the tests give negative results in relation to the relationship between the foundling and the parents. They don’t want to accept that and in the next step let a photographer do it image comparison draw. But there are also difficulties here, because Arnold’s ears cannot be seen in the picture because of the cap. In the end, the report shows that the foundling and Arnold are most likely not one and the same person. This triggers glee in the first-person narrator.
The forensic anthropology institute in Heidelberg
The parents are desperate because of the results and the mother is even nervous. Disputes often arise between the two of them, so that the father throws himself into his work. He can now even hire drivers and earns good money. When a new argument breaks out between the parents, the father offers a last resort anthropological-hereditary parentage report to have made. The mother agrees and the family travels to Heidelberg together. The first-person narrator came along reluctantly.
The examinations are carried out at the forensic anthropological institute in Heidelberg, whereby the measurements by Professor Freiherr von Liebstedt are painful for the son, which the parents ignore. The family spends the rest of the day sightseeing in the city. The first-person narrator notices the exchange of tenderness between his parents, which he had never observed in this way before.
The next morning they receive the results of the foot examinations, whereby a relationship with the foundling cannot be ruled out, but cannot be confirmed either.
The death of the father
On the way home, the father seems very upset because of the report. At home, the family is awaited by district police officer Mr. Rudolph, who reports that his father’s cold store has been broken into. A large part of the goods was then spoiled – an additional stress factor for the father, which ultimately led to a heart attack. He dies two days later and the first-person narrator maintains the appearance of the grieving son at the funeral, but is then very happy to finally be able to take off the black armband.
The mother takes over the business and is soon respected by the workforce as a strict boss. However, she remains unapproachable for the first-person narrator, who grows up to be a difficult boy because he lacks his mother’s affection. At the same time, his anger towards his mother grows because he feels that he will never be able to replace the prodigal son. As a result, a relationship develops between the mother and Mr. Rudolph. The first-person narrator is fascinated by the police officer, but remains suspicious.
The trip to Porta Westfalica
The report from Heidelberg was received, which ruled out a relationship between the foundling and the family, but showed a high level of similarity in terms of the head and face outline between the foundling and the first-person narrator. In the additional biomathematical report, the relationship is denied with an almost 100 percent probability. Although this reassures the first-person narrator, the mother still maintains the almost zero probability that the foundling is Arnold.
She decides to visit the foundling to see him at least once. She found out the address from her new friend, the policeman Mr. Rudolph. The foundling goes by the name Heinrich, lives in a small town near the Porta Westfalica and is doing an apprenticeship as a butcher. Arrived at the destination, the mother and the first-person narrator are confronted with the foundling at the shop window. Both the first-person narrator and the foundling are shocked by the great resemblance. However, the mother turns away and tells Mr. Rudolph to drive back immediately.
The lost – characterization of the central figures
The first-person narrator
- remains nameless
- is about 5 years old when he hears about Arnold
- feels threatened by his brother
- feels the shame and remorse of his parents as a child and has an unstable relationship with them,
- The first-person narrator feels glee at the foundling’s improbable kinship with Arnold,
- feels neglected, unwanted and has no empathy for the parents,
- is little affected by the death of the father and angry at the grieving mother,
- First-person narrator becomes ungrateful and irritable
- is shocked by his resemblance to Heinrich at the end.
The parents
- come from Rakowiec in Poland and fled to East Westphalia,
- suffer greatly from the loss of Arnold and are persistent in finding him,
- cannot show love and affection towards the first-person narrator,
- Father is obsessed with his work and has prejudices against Russians,
- never talks openly with his son and suffers a heart attack as a result of financial worries,
- While fleeing, mother gave Arnold into the hands of a stranger,
- she reproaches herself for having hastily given it away,
- she was raped by the Russians but never talks about it,
- her trauma shapes family life, whereby she shows no tenderness to her son,
- becomes emotionally jaded and depressed,
- after the death of her father, she takes over the company and becomes a strict and respected boss,
- does not accept Mr. Rudolph’s request out of self-punishment,
- Mother wants to adopt the foundling
- accepts at the end of the plot and after a long time that the foundling is not hers.
Arnold
- was given away as a one-year-old on the run,
- has a place of honor in the family photo album,
- poses a threat to the youngest son,
- Arnold has the unconditional love of his parents,
- reappears in the foundling Heinrich,
- the relationship cannot be confirmed,
- looks a lot like the younger son,
- Heinrich or Arnold (?) turns pale at the sight of their younger brother.
Structure, language and narrative behavior in The Lost
The story has no chapters, but is divided into four paragraphs of different lengths…