Panorama (38 page)

Josef took the position as tutor, Frau Director having definitely wanted a philosophy student, since she always says that she is interested in philosophy, one needing to be a philosopher these days if one wants to survive the struggle of life, as the crisis is great, making it hard to know what to teach the boys. Frau Director loves Spinoza more than anyone, as it’s solid philosophical work, his
Ethics
remaining always next to her bed in a leather-bound edition, though in between Frau Director also reads English and French, since one always has to stay in practice. It’s so important for one to learn languages, it being terrible that these days in the schools languages are not taught in any practical manner, but Madame Forbette from Lausanne is in the house, a really charming person who helps raise Robert, Frau Director having taken her oldest son on summer trips to France and England, to the Riviera and the Isle of Wight, so that the boy could learn the right accent. Josef is told that naturally Frau Director hopes that despite his high intelligence he will also be willing to come along with them this year to Brittany, from which she also wants to make a couple of side trips with Josef and the boys, at least to Rouen to see the marvelous cathedral, Frau Director having received for her birthday a fantastic guide to the cathedrals of northern France, which she wondered if Josef knew. She’d love to show it to him, it’s on the bookshelf, it needing to always remain closed and put away, she always saying that the boys are always getting into things such as Fuchs’s book of morals, and Magnus Hirschfeld and so on, which are really not for boys. They are in the middle of puberty, so they like to look at the pictures, though Frau Director is no prude, no, not at all, but sexual precociousness can harm one, which is why the boys also do gymnastics, they needing to do
sports, riding, and fencing. One has to keep them occupied so that they don’t get lost in sultry daydreams, which is another argument against free schools.

Since the rise of psychology, everyone knows that the tiniest thing can lead to trauma, which is what she always says, and then a perversion follows. Frau Director of course has nothing against sex education, she herself has explained everything to the boys, as well as invited Dr. Brendel, a doctor friend, to explain all the biology to them, but only the scientific approach devoid of anything erotic. Even the concerns of venereal disease were explained as a diversion, but it also had a negative effect. As Frau Director wants to protect her boys from going astray, the only answer is to marry young, since one needs to be pure to enter into marriage. She wouldn’t have any problem if at twenty her boys were to meet a proper girl, who is not rich and beautiful but homely and uncomplicated, though some possibilities are out of the question, Frau Director making it clear to the boys that they should quietly and quickly get married if these occur, there being today working students who live on their own, though Frau Director is in the fortunate position to be able to provide the boys with modest means, and they could continue to live in the villa, which is large enough, even taking over Josef’s room. There is of course a room for Josef, so that he can stay overnight at the house, thus making it easier to mix with the family, for family life is everything, though unfortunately a blessing that hardly exists anymore, which is why Frau Director on this point is against socialism, which has a lot to say for itself, but it breaks up the family, and that is the beginning of the end for humankind, though the boys will be able to live with their wives upstairs in the guest rooms and remain under inconspicuous supervision, the daughters-in-law also then becoming a part of the family and thereby conquering any conflict between the generations, which is the cancer on the soul of today’s society.

Frau Director will make an ideal mother-in-law and will instruct her daughters-in-law in all the secrets of being a good wife, since a man needs a thousand little things that too many women don’t know about, which leads to a lot of marriages breaking up. Frau Director herself had to lay out a lot of money for instruction, since her mother died young, her mother-in-law was so nasty, and the Director was such a distinguished son, but to such a
degree that he was perhaps too good for her. Frau Director didn’t want to say anything to his mother, but the latter stirred up bad blood and agitated her son, which meant that Frau Director needed the patience of a saint in accommodating and adjusting, while her husband said nothing about any of what his mother said, as her word was sacred. Frau Director wept bitter tears, for she had no one who could defend her against the old lady, and naturally she doesn’t want to complain after having been married so long, he being the most wonderful husband, as she always says, full of tenderness and tact, though indeed he has no higher intellectual interests, he is always absorbed in his work and reads only newspapers or something about the economy, he always surrounded by stacks of papers to get through and thinking of himself as an expert on it all. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been made director, for he paid nothing to get the title, extra money being better spent on charitable causes, such as a servant girl’s trousseau, none ever leaving without being completely fitted out by Frau Director.

It’s of course difficult to be director of the Stock Exchange, he having to calculate the rise and fall of stocks ahead of time, which requires a good nose, otherwise you can end up just wringing your hands, Frau Director meanwhile wanting to know if Josef understood anything about the market and the national economy. Of course he had no idea, how would he? But Josef should not think that just because he’s a philosopher he knows everything, only a novice believes that, which is why it’s good that he’s here in this house, where the Director can explain it all to him precisely, as well as advise him what to do if he ever had the chance to buy a stock at a good price or dump it, all of their relatives approaching the Director for free tips, though he gets no thanks at all for it. Frau Director has often warned him that he’s too good-natured, as she always says, but he gives them tips nonetheless, which in the end is an incredible responsibility, for it’s easy to ruin oneself, never mind one’s family, especially now during the worldwide economic crisis, international uncertainty, millions of unemployed, and the general panic. The first years after the war saw the market climb, especially once German inflation was brought under control, followed by a nice boom, but since 1929 everything has gone to the dogs, and the signs of improvement are comparable to the single bluebird that doesn’t make for an entire summer. Now taxes eat up everything, and if Frau Director didn’t
slow her husband down a bit and keep him from throwing all his money away at charities it would be nearly impossible for her to hold this house together.

The Director has a wonderful temperament and makes sure that she never goes hungry, the dear Lord having always taken care of them, though it’s hard to feed a family on such pious thoughts alone. Frau Director doesn’t approve when someone says “Prayer and work are what sustains,” since work is a fine thing, but prayer is archaic. Frau Director believes in the goodness of the world, and has nothing against it when someone uses the word “God,” but to think of the dear Lord as some bearded grandpa in the way that religion always wants to teach, that is nothing more than a crude father complex, which doesn’t fit well with our times. One should apply oneself to an atheistic or abstract ethic, and since Spinoza stands on the threshold of modern times, as far as Frau Director can see, Spinoza is indeed an atheist who made certain concessions to his superstitious times, in much the same way one must always make concessions, there being nothing absolute, as can be seen through Einstein. Frau Director would love it if Josef could explain to her sometime what Einstein is really saying, she having read two truly excellent articles about it, as well as having attended lectures, the one that showed a film being very instructive, she only regretting that her husband wasn’t with her, though he is always so tired at night, going to bed at nine, then reading for another hour before turning off the light, since he has to be up early in order to be at work in the garden soon after six. It’s all healthy, certainly, but nonetheless a little too simple for a director, though he has something of the biblical peasant about him, Frau Director indeed recalling what she had been saying about God, which can in fact be seen in Michelangelo’s painting in the Sistine Chapel, an august image or ideal, though there is no one today who would call it God. Frau Director doesn’t want to give her children any religious instruction, it’s too easy to end up with conflicting morals, which she wants to prevent, and which cause the children to have conflicting ideas that they ask the parents about, such as how the world really was created, and if it was really created out of nothing, causing one to lie to the children in almost nihilistic fashion, since they learn completely different things in physics and biology. That’s why Frau Director explains to her boys that all that about God is a fable, though she
doesn’t rail directly against religion in order to guard against the children coming into conflict with other children at school, for one must be tolerant and respect the superstitious, as long as it doesn’t go too far, though the story of Adam and Eve is lovely, other stories from the Bible being certainly of good moral use, though too much is Middle Eastern, while certainly much is obsolete. For example, it’s terrible to lecture children, as part of the Ten Commandments, that “thou shalt not commit adultery!” for no child can understand the idea of coveting someone else’s wife, which only leads to confusion. Indeed, psychology has begun a much more healing process and will prevail against any hostility directed at it.

Frau Director can only recommend that Josef study the books of Freud and those of his students, especially when he has something to do with children and wants to become a teacher. She believes the story of man is one about the transition from sleep to waking, awakening being something that happens gradually, sleep and waking two powers that can be observed competing for the human spirit, since even when man is awake he still often slips into a dream state, and thus exists between the two. The challenge for man is to destroy all dreams and illusions in order that an awake and healthy generation arises, something that Frau Director would like to write a book about, if only she didn’t have so many things demanding her attention, though perhaps Josef could someday put her thoughts into good form and publish it himself, for which she will need no thanks, there being no gratitude in the world anyway, although that was the one good thing that religion did when it came to power, and that was somehow to make men feel grateful, previously man having always been focused on eternal retribution and the triumph of justice, but with what success? It is easily seen if one studies the Middle Ages, for better conditions first arose then through education, and through classics such as Goethe and Schiller, though Spinoza was in many ways the earlier herald of the new age. Frau Director takes a breath and says that this has been at least a bit of an introduction and she’d love to keep talking with Josef, but she has way too much to do and must beg his pardon, though the pleasant chat had helped give her a better idea of Josef and she can see that he is a gifted man who will feel right at home here, for everyone who has lived here has always felt at home. Working with the boys is not really hard, one must only gain their love and attention,
which is easy enough, Irwin will soon be seventeen, Lutz has just turned fourteen, the boys are very close to each other, and even if they fight now and then that’s just the way it is with children, though one can intervene before it goes any further and with a bit of reasoning get them to make up.

Frau Director rings a bell and the maid arrives, she introducing him to Sophie and her to Josef, who is already almost a doctor, so the servants should call him Herr Doctor. Josef wants to protest, saying that he cannot allow himself to be called a doctor, but Frau Director explains that all he needs to do is pass a few more exams, and so the servants should address him as Herr Doctor, and she didn’t want to hear anything more about it, because that’s the way it’s done here, as without the existence of a certain distance bad habits can be incurred, Madame Forbette being the exception, she can simply call him Josef, though with the regular servants that’s not to be tolerated. Then Frau Director looks with warmth at the maid and says, this is our dear Sophie, who is excellent, and then Frau Director asks, you’re always happy to be here, aren’t you Sophie? Sophie blushes, and then she’s asked to call Irwin and Lutz, the girl bowing slightly and heading off. After a while the boys arrive, gangly and ill-mannered, as they kiss their mother’s hand. The boys need to introduce themselves and greet the doctor, Frau Director explains, saying this is Josef the tutor, though he is actually a philosopher, and though they don’t have to bow to him they must shake hands each time they meet. Frau Director wants Irwin and Lutz to sit down, saying that she hopes the boys will make their parents proud in making such an ideal older friend, for Josef is the right choice out of a large number of applications. Irwin and Lutz sit there uncomfortably quiet, squirming with impatience in their chairs and feeling shy, looking brazenly at their mother and bashfully at the new tutor. Josef suggests that perhaps it would be a good idea for them to get to know one another a bit, and that perhaps he could come to their room. Frau Director agrees, she warning the boys to be nice, and that she didn’t want to hear any fighting, though Josef says that surely won’t happen, he hopes to make good friends of Irwin and Lutz. Then Frau Director sends the three of them off with the remark, “Of course, you can have your snack on your own, but I’ll see you all at dinner.”

Josef asks the boys to show him their room. Irwin corrects him, saying it’s two rooms, they share a bedroom and a living room. Lutz opens a door
to the bedroom, and the boys look at Josef inquisitively to see what he will say. He wants to know if they clean their own rooms. No, Sophie does all of that, it’s her job to, and in the morning there’s often not enough time to clean up, for Irwin especially likes to sleep in, though Lutz does get up earlier, but as soon as Irwin is up the Madame arrives, though they didn’t know if Josef had seen her yet. That’s the French woman who is there for Robert, but that’s by now the end of a long story that begins with Sophie knocking at their door first and Irwin shouting “Come in!,” yet Sophie doesn’t open the door and says only, “Irwin, it’s already late, time to get up!” That does no good, and then usually Mother arrives, saying that it’s unhealthy to lie in bed so long, and Irwin should see what his father has already done today, at which Irwin begins to make motions toward getting up, breakfast already laid out in the small dining room, the father sitting there with a newspaper, he needing to know what’s going on with the market, the mother sitting down as well after she has walked through the entire house and told the cook what she should prepare for that day, Madame also arriving in the room with her lips smeared in red, the mother doing her makeup a bit later, Father wanting to speak with Madame in French, but Mother says to him in English that Madame is there for Robert, who is sitting next to her, at which Lutz arrives wearing a hairnet if he feels like making his mother angry, for she cannot stand the hairnet and makes Lutz take it off. Then Anton, wearing white gloves, serves breakfast, there always being coffee, tea, and cocoa to choose from, Robert always having cocoa with an
egg
mixed in, since Robert is so frail and because the family doctor has said that he should eat a lot of eggs, but Robert doesn’t like eggs, especially hard-boiled ones, or even soft ones, though Mother doesn’t allow sunny-side eggs to be served in the morning, she says that they are too hard to make and Robert hardly eats any of them, though scrambled eggs are the worst of all, they disgust him and lead to a scene as Madame squeals, “Sweetheart, you have to eat everything,” the father urging him on as well, though Robert howls that he won’t, and Mother makes an unhappy face, Robert should just eat it, why indeed won’t he eat? She harangues him, saying how sad it makes her when he won’t eat, he is indeed a lovely child, but he will always be pale and weak, and never as big as Irwin and Lutz, if he doesn’t eat. Nonetheless, Robert doesn’t touch the scrambled eggs, and then the mother says to the father
that the boy must have a complex, which nothing can be done about, but the father replies that no one has ever gotten sick from scrambled eggs, she’s only imagining things, and you shouldn’t coddle the children, though the mother responds that indeed it is a question of the imagination, many have become quite sick simply through imagining things, these being part of the sick complexes that the mother has many books about, but the father says that he doesn’t believe in complexes, he recommends a good spanking or the rod. The mother is not at all pleased by this and says, “Quiet, I ask you to be quiet in front of the children,” which she indeed says in front of Robert, who then gets his eggs how he likes them, always just one mixed in with his cocoa, this all happening at the last minute, for Robert likes to see how it curdles, his mother saying to him, “Look, that’s the same thing as a scrambled egg.”