Go, Went, Gone

After Christmas, Richard’s friends Monika and Jörg return from Italy. They have dinner with Richard, Detlef, and Sylvia. Monika says that outside of Tuscany they saw black refugee women on the side of the road, soliciting. She says that a lot of the time the women have serious diseases like hepatitis and HIV, so people have to be careful around them.

Peter returns and visits Richard at home. He has been visiting the family of his 21-year-old girlfriend, Marie. Richard accepts his invitation to go to a New Year’s Eve party thrown by Marie’s friend.

Osarobo returns from Italy and comes over to play the piano. He tells Richard that in Milano, whenever he sat next to someone on a bus or subway, the person would get up and change seats. He has to return to Milano in eight weeks to process more documents, and it will cost him nearly 700 euros.

Richard gives him the rolled-up keyboard. Sylvia and Detlef knock on the door as Osarobo experiments with his gift. They have come from the Christmas Oratorio. Richard gave them the tickets after Osarobo had left for Italy. 

Most of the refugees celebrate their birthdays on January 1 because they don’t know the days of their births. Richard gives sweaters to Ithemba, Apollo, and Rashid. Outside the home, he sees the thin man who had been pushing the broom. He asks to speak with Richard and shows him a police summons: “For the failure to provide valid ID” (201). The man’s name is Karon Anubo. The police had stopped him at Alexanderplatz and said the man on his ID wasn’t him. He has lost weight and Richard thinks that accounts for the difference between his appearance and the photo.

Richard takes him to the police station. The police official, Ms. Lübcke, is not there and Karon can therefore not answer the summons. Richard drives him back to Spandau. He postpones giving the sweaters because he is no longer in the mood for a party. He thinks of his own to-do list, which would include menial chores and doctor’s visits. Karon’s to-do list, “would be more like this: Eradicate corruption, cronyism, and child labor in Ghana” (204). Rashid and the others would have similar lists.

Karon needs to send money to his family. Richard asks what they would plant, if Karon’s family had land. Then Richard asks what Karon would say if Richard bought a piece of land for him and his family. Karon says that it would be a full year before the first harvest could be taken: “Karon’s worries have ground him down to such an extent that he’s even afraid to hope” (206). 

Richard is at the New Year’s Eve party. At midnight, he wonders what a new year means: “The older he gets, the more grateful he is to have just as little idea as anyone else what is in store” (207).

On January 8, lists arrive at the three housing facilities, giving the names of 108 men who will be forcibly evicted from the homes and relocated to Magdeburg and other similar places. Rashid takes a picture of the list and texts it to Richard. Abdusalam, Zair, and Osarobo are on the list. When Richard arrives at Spandau on the morning of the departure, 20 squad cars are there. He looks at the armed guards and at the refugees: “Are the two groups of people facing off here something like the two halves of a universe that actually belong together, but whose separation is nonetheless irrevocable?” (209). Richard thinks of the differences between himself and the refugees, which are not as large as he would have guessed before meeting them. He thinks of the lifespan of the planet, compared to the lifespan of a human, and sees that Rashid has begun to shout that he has had enough and will blow the building up. He goes into the building.

The refugee Yussuf runs out of the building shouting at the police. He punches everyone who tries to speak to him, even Richard. Richard remembers that Yussuf wanted to be an engineer. Now he is on the verge of being forced into a straitjacket and arrested. Rashid comes back out and asks Richard if he is going to come to a demonstration later. They are going to march from Oranienplatz to the Berlin Senate. Richard and a senator, who has come to observe, agree to join them. 

Richard files for a permit to demonstrate. The protestors are required to register a slogan for their protest. Richard says the slogan is: “A time to make friends” (215). The route for the march has to be cleared in advance and the men are forced to wait. The senator tells Richard that Rashid’s heart is in bad shape, and she is worried about him. Two and a half hours later, the demonstration starts. Richard accompanies them for two blocks and then goes home. 

That evening Richard hears on the news that the refugee group from the Friedrichshain facility have occupied the top floor of their building. Some are threatening to jump. At Spandau the next morning, only Rashid is in his room. He shows Richard a bag of medications and says he is too tired to join the others. Richard goes home and looks at the snow in his garden: “Richard knows that he’s one of the very few people in this world who are in a position to take their pick of realities” (219).

The next day he reads that the electricity and water have been shut off at the building where the refugees are on the roof. A German newspaper publishes an article asking what the difference is between a protest and blackmail. One of the refugees has urinated off the roof and this is seized upon by reporters and blog comments such as: “Brand-new in Germany and the FIRST THING he does is pee off the roof!” (220). They are also mocked for their idleness, despite having been denied the right to work. 

Karon texts Richard as he reads. He needs a ride to a meeting with district authorities, and Richard picks him up and takes him. While they wait, he asks Karon how to buy property in Ghana. Karon says the king has to give his permission for the sale. Three witnesses must observe the signing of the contract.

Two days later, one of Karon’s friends sends him a picture of a plot of land that is for sale: “So now Richard is preparing to buy property for the second time in his life, this time in Ghana” (224). He will pay 3,000 euros for three and a half acres. The king says yes. The next day Karon takes Richard to a shop and tells him to give the money to a woman who is there. A young man writes a long number and a short number on the back of a piece of paper after Richard gives the woman the money. Karon says they can leave. Karon’s mother will use the two numbers to collect the money from two different locations in Ghana. Three hours later, Karon’s phone rings. It is his mother. She wants to thank Richard. That evening Richard receives a photo of the deed of sale.

The next morning Richard receives a text from Karon: “hi Richard. i just want to see how you are doing Richard. I don’t no how to thanks you. Only God no my heart but anyway wat I can say is may God protect you. Always Good morning. Karon” (228). Richard thinks that good morning is the best thing that one friend may wish another. 

Richard goes into town to see the developments at Friedrichshain. The refugees have been on the top floor for a week. He sees some of his friends. Zair tells him that the refugees on the roof are no longer in contact with them because their phone batteries have died. They are also out of water.

Richard sees Rufu on a bench nearby. In Italian, Rufu says that everything is over. Richard invites him over and says that he wants him to come eat lunch and read volume two of Dante. Rufu seems drugged to Richard, who asks if he is medicated. Rufu shows him a box with a yellow pill in it but says that he does not know what it is. Richard tells him to stop taking the pills.

The next morning Rufu is able to look at Richard with a clear head. He feels better after not taking another pill. That evening he looks up the side effects of the drug, which include fatigue and weakness in the vocal cords. He calls Jörg, who is a psychiatrist. Jörg tells him that the drug is usually given to old people who are manic or hyper at night. Jörg also says that the refugees still believe in superstitions and medicine men, so if Richard dances around Rufu in a circle, he will believe he is healed. Richard believes that he will no longer be able to be friends with Jörg.

Richard takes Rufu to a psychiatric institute and says he will pay for his exam. A doctor notices that Rufu has a large cavity in one of his teeth: “As so often, this examination has revealed that everything depends on asking the right questions” (235). Richard takes Rufu to a dentist who fills the hole. After, he tells Richard that whenever he has seen a hole in a tooth that is this severe patient is usually delirious with pain. He does not charge Richard for the repair. 

A week later Osarobo texts Richard. He says he is staying with a friend from Ivory Coast. Richard thinks about the piano practice, and how, if they were to resume, Osarobo would be starting over:

Time does something to a person, because a human being isn’t a machine that can be switched on and off. The time during which a person doesn’t know how his life can become a life fills a person condemned to idleness from his head down to his toes (237).

Richard goes to the lake, which is frozen. He imagines the drowned man beneath the ice, begging for someone to chop through and save him. Later that day, he accepts an invitation to give a talk about Seneca at a Frankfurt colloquium two weeks later. It is hard for him to understand now that once his life was little more than a series of academic presentations.

The next day Osarobo visits. He says he wants to go to Italy in March, which gives Richard roughly eight weeks to give him piano lessons. He asks the boy if he remembers the C Major chord. 

As Richard studies Seneca in preparation for his presentation, he “realizes how much pleasure his work still gives him” (240). He ponders the refugees’ plight, and the nature of peace. Peace is something that societies have fought for throughout history, but now he sees a state denying refuge so aggressively that it almost resembles war. He compares the journey of the men to the journey that has been taken by the faculties of reason and memory. Once he asked Apollo how they bury their dead in the desert. Apollo replied that a dune would be open and the body laid inside. The graves are never marked, but no one forgets the burial spot.

The next morning he learns that the Berlin Senate, due to a missing signature, has declared their arrangement with the refugees invalid. On the news that afternoon he sees police drag Rashid and a few others away from Oranienplatz. Because the government took back its part of the agreement, they are trying to take back their part by building an igloo and sleeping in it. The next day Richard will meet with Ithemba’s lawyer, and he is looking forward to it. 

As Richard talks with Ithemba’s lawyer, he can tell that Ithemba understands little of what they are saying. They argue over the nuances and justifications of deportation, to which the lawyer says, “The more highly developed a society is, the more its written laws come to replace common sense” (250). He estimates that only two thirds of German laws are invested in the emotional state of the citizens. As they leave, Richard notices the many other refugees waiting outside in the lobby. He imagines them all drowning in a sea of paperwork and bureaucracy. 

Richard leaves and gives his lecture in Frankfurt, which is entitled “Reason as Fiery Matter in the Work of Seneca the Stoic” (252). He speaks of memory, reason, power, and powerlessness. At lunch, everyone asks him about retirement, but no one mentions his talk. He leaves after lunch and returns home, deciding to abandon the rest of the conference.

At his house, Richard realizes that someone has robbed him. Most of the drawers in his house have been opened. The next day police arrive and tell him to make a list of what is missing. The thief took his mother’s wedding ring. Richard is worried that it was Osarobo. He calls Anne, a photographer he met at the first party of the novel and asks what he should do. She says he has to confront Osarobo. After hanging up, he texts Osarobo and they agree to meet the next day at two o'clock in the afternoon. At two-thirty the next afternoon, he receives a text from Osarobo saying he can’t come.

That evening, Richard’s friend Andreas visits. They talk about the thought experiment Schrödinger’s Cat. A cat is in a metal box with a vial of poison and a source of radiation. If a meter detects radioactive activity, the poison is opened, killing the cat. But because no one can see inside the box, it is impossible to tell whether the cat is alive or dead, leading quantum physicists to decree that therefore the cat is simultaneously dead and alive. Richard wonders whether Osarobo can be guilty and innocent at the same time.

Richard tries to meet with him twice more, but both times Osarobo agrees, then says he can’t make it at the last minute. The second time, Richard cries “as he hasn’t wept since his wife’s death” (262), but still he wonders if Osarobo might be innocent. 

During a snowstorm, Karon appears at Richard’s study window. One of Karon’s friends has texted Richard a picture of Karon’s family. Karon points to the house the people in the picture are standing before, and says he helped build it. He says that sometimes people would burn down houses for reasons that no one else knew, and that he is glad the house is still there. 

In early February, the Foreigners Office rules that Italy alone bears responsibility for the refugees. Most of the men Richard has come to know have to leave. When Rashid receives his letter, “he pours a can of gasoline over himself on Oranienplatz and tries to light himself on fire” (265).

As the men are divided among various new organizations, people are asked to help them. They always mention that they have heard the men are traumatized and will destroy the homes of anyone who lets them in.

There are 476 total cases. Only three exceptions are made. Tristan (Awad) is given a six-month exceptional stay by a psychologist, which entitles him to a residence while he waits. After a stay in a psychiatric ward, Ithemba is granted a four-week postponement. Rashid is granted an additional six months due to his heart condition.

Sylvia and Detlef help Richard make room in his house. All of Richard’s friends, with the exception of Monika and Jörg, also offer to let a refugee stay with them: “In this way, 147 of the 476 men now have a place to sleep” (272). Thomas, the economist, helps Richard open a bank account to accept donations, which results in a trickle of money. The Berlin Senate will only pay for German classes for the refugees who are still in Berlin. They start over from the beginning with the conjugations: “Gehen, ging, gegangen” (273), which means “Go, went, gone.”

Rufu and Abdusalam sleep in Richard’s library. Kahlil and Ithemba sleep in the guest room. Apollo and Karon have beds in the living room. In the evenings, Ithemba cooks for them all with the 50 euro food allowance Richard provides. At night, the men go out onto the terrace and sing Nigerian songs. 

Richard invites people over for his birthday. He receives a text from Osarobo saying that he is doing well, but with no other information. Before the guests arrive, the refuges and Richard prepare the house and yard. After they eat, Anne insists on taking a group photo. Richard notices that Sylvia is not there at the party, and Detlef is not smiling for the picture. Later, Detlef tells them all around the fire that Sylvia went to the doctor that day and is very ill: “All of them think for a moment about women they have loved, who once loved them” (279).

Ithemba says that it is difficult to find love in Germany because no one loves a refugee. Detlef asks Richard if he still thinks about Christel, his wife. Richard says he misses her and still thinks about her hair, and their arguments, and that she drank because she was unhappy. Ithemba asks why she was unhappy. Richard tells them that she was pregnant once. He had not been ready for a child, and he had talked her into an abortion. Abortion was illegal then, and he had taken her to have the procedure performed covertly. On the train on the way home blood had dripped down her legs and Richard had been terrified that she would die: “[T]hat’s when I realized […] that the things I can endure are only just the surface of what I can’t possibly endure” (283). Khalil asks if he means like the surface of the seas, and Richard agrees in the novel’s final line that that is exactly what he means.