Amerika: The Missing Person

This chapter draws a comparison between employment and servitude, such parallels being most evident in Karl’s interactions with fellow servant Robinson and the neighbor Josef Mendel. Rather than being entirely negative, Karl’s servitude is framed as ambiguous—with his perception shifting at the end of the chapter.

After being fired from the Hotel Occidental, Karl reunites with Delamarche and Robinson and meets Brunelda—all of whom plan to make him a servant. Brunelda gets angry at Delamarche for bringing Karl, but then makes a show of letting him stay. Her mercurial personality and Karl’s dislike of her are quickly established. In his state of exhaustion, Karl believes himself “grateful”—but later wonders if Brunelda’s words “might not have been meant well” (151). Karl’s instincts warn him of the situation, but he stays out of fear of Delamarche and the police.

Robinson’s alcoholism demonstrates how servitude is humiliating to the human spirit. In his conversations with Karl, he attempts to paint a rosy picture of his life as Brunelda and Delamarche’s servant, but fails to be persuasive at all. He focuses on the highlight of being in Brunelda’s company. Robinson’s crush adds humor to an otherwise bleak situation. Brunelda’s demanding and difficult manner is all too clear to Karl, and he is not as enchanted by her as Robinson is.

Upon realizing Robinson is Brunelda and Delamarche’s servant, Karl’s desire to escape increases. However, Josef Mendel changes Karl’s perspective on servitude: Josef complains about how busy his day is and that he only survives by drinking copious amounts of coffee. Karl looks longingly at Josef’s book and misses when he was a student. However, the neighbor is only able to enjoy books by staying up late at night and spending his days in perpetual exhaustion. Karl initially envies Josef’s situation, but the neighbor convinces him that he is actually better off.

At the beginning of the chapter, Karl notices the serene scene of an “open window in an office and an employee sitting at a desk” (148). This fleeting impression may be the source of Karl’s new dream of securing a stable office job. When applying to the Theater of Oklahoma later on, Karl states he was miserable in an office job, adding an additional layer of irony. Though the novel does not detail said job, it is implied that Karl secured it sometime between escaping Delamarche’s apartment and the novel’s end. In this regard, Karl’s idealism and naivete lead him astray once again.

The political rally provides a respite from Karl’s volatile life, but it also offers insight into how people with different ambitions and values see politics. Throngs of people appear on the street in a parade regarding the election of a new judge. Delamarche is clueless as to what is going on; Josef, on the other hand, is attuned to the situation and advises Karl to pay attention to politics.

During the rally, Karl sees the politician’s opponents attacking his supporters, destroying a car headlamp and releasing an “uncertain illumination, whose sudden expansion had the same effect as utter darkness” (173). In this moment of lyrical imagery, Karl’s situation is given light—potential redemption for his suffering.