The Mysterious Stranger summary and theme
The Mysterious Stranger takes place during the Middle Ages,
and its narrator is a young boy named Theodor Fischer. He and his friends,
Seppi and Nikolaus, live in the fictional Austrian town of Eseldorf, which is
secluded and filled with devout townspeople. Theodor describes the adventures
he and his friends have with a strange visitor.
The boys encounter a handsome teenage boy who magically
lights their pipe by breathing on it one spring day while they are playing in
the woods. He shows himself to be a Satan-named angel and the devil's nephew.
He carries out a number of magical feats, such as summoning candy and fruits,
to demonstrate this to them and win their confidence. The boys are overjoyed to
make a new friend in paradise.
Satan eventually offers to assist the boys in building a clay
castle replete with real clay horses, villagers, and soldiers. Satan, however,
destroys the community and casts the clay men into hell when they start
fighting and showing physical abnormalities. Although the lads are horrified,
Satan ignores their feelings.
Father Peter arrives, asking the boys to help him find his
wallet. They quickly find it filled with gold coins. Theodor, confident that
this must be Satan’s divine intervention, encourages Father Peter to keep it.
However, his luck abruptly ends when his enemy, the town astrologer, accuses
Father Peter of stealing the money. He is quickly arrested, leaving his family
destitute. The boys quickly find that Satan’s intervention always includes
unforeseen consequences. He gives Father Peter’s family a cat that is meant to
bring money and fortune, but this leads the zealous townspeople to accuse the
family of witchcraft.
Theodor grows concerned about the future of his family and
friends and begs Satan to protect them. Satan obliges, saying he can change
their predetermined path, which he calls a “career.” He redirects the careers
of Nikolaus and a local girl named Lisa, promising that both of their lives
will be improved as a result. However, Satan has a utilitarian view of what
this improvement is; Nikolaus and Lisa are now both doomed to die in twelve
days, after Nikolaus succumbs while attempting to save her from drowning. Satan
explains that the alternative was him surviving but living the rest of his life
in misery and pain. Theodor and Seppi helplessly watch Nikolaus creep slowly
towards his death and try to comfort themselves knowing that he avoided a
horrible fate. Satan alters Lisa’s mother’s career, claiming that it will
relieve her of her suffering. However, he sentences her to burn at the stake
after she publicly condemns God for allowing Lisa’s brutal drowning. Satan
explains that he saved her decades of grief and mourning.
Satan takes the boys all over the world, showing them various
locations and eras, to demonstrate to the boys the flaws in human reasoning.
These trips all have displays of unspeakable human suffering in common. Theodor
and Satan witness a man being tortured in a prison for blasphemy, children of
all ages being killed on a factory line, and religion fueling societal unrest
and hysteria. Satan blames this on the limitations and hypocrisy of "Moral
Sense," the inherently human capacity to distinguish between right and evil.
According to Satan, people use it to rationalise their own actions while
ignoring pain. His pessimistic views on mankind are influenced by this as well
as other perceived flaws like mortality. Theodor is perpetually horrified by
the visions he sees.
After a particularly long absence, Satan appears to Theodor
and tells him that while he enjoyed his companionship, this will be his final
visit. When Theodor says he hopes to meet him in another life, Satan tells him
that this is Theodor’s only life, revealing that “Life itself is only a vision,
a dream” (103). He says that his eventual disappearance will be a sign that
Theodor understands and accepts this reality. As Satan vanishes, Theodor
intuitively knows that his claim is true.
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER CHARACTER ANALYSIS
THEODOR FISCHER
Theodor Fischer is the son of the village organist and the
narrator of The Mysterious Stranger. He has had a standard Eseldorf upbringing
and is trained to be a devout and unquestioning Christian in matters of
religion. He enjoys playing and exploring the woods with his local friends
Seppi Wohlmeyer and Nikolaus Bauman. At the onset of the story, Theodor is
playful, a bit mischievous, and has a sense of childhood wonder. This includes
an interest in the supernatural; he recalls exploring haunted sections of a
castle and hearing tales from a guard about angels and demons. As such, his
initial meeting with Satan leaves him unfazed. With the exception of learning
about his hellish namesake, Theodor is excited about meeting the young angel
and is open to any adventures on which he might lead him.
As Theodor spends more time with Satan, this evolves. He
gradually becomes sucked into Satan's realm. Some of the prior playmates are
abandoned by him and his friends because they feel that their new, angelic
friend is better than them. "They seemed so tame, after Satan,"
Theodor reflects, "and their doings so trivial and ordinary after his
exploits in antiquity and the constellations, and his miracles and meltings and
explosions, and all that" (25). He is forced to reconsider his worldview
after coming into contact with Satan's vast information. More importantly, his
exposure to the depth of human suffering during their time together is
essential. Satan confronts him by pointing out the link between religion and
social problems, challenging him to rise above his pious upbringing. He mulls
over his sense of morality as he observes unfavourable circumstances.
After being exposed to horror upon horror, Theodor’s world
finally shatters when his friend Nikolaus dies while trying to save a young
girl in their village. In the days leading up to his death, Theodor is forced
to grapple with an impossible choice: allow Satan to adjust Nikolaus’ career so
that he dies instantly by drowning, or let him live sixty-two years in pain and
misery. He chooses the former and spends an agonizing twelve days leading up to
Nikolaus’s death. Theodor acknowledges that he has not always been the best
friend to Nikolaus and feels ashamed that he is only attempting to repent with
knowledge of his future. Satan’s actions require Theodor to reconcile his
crisis of morality. Nikolaus lived morally; when he notices Theodor and Seppi
were upset after learning of his death, he tries to comfort them. His mother
mentions being proud of his virtues, and he dies as a result of his noble
actions. Theodor recounts many instances when he was intentionally mean or
deceitful to Nikolaus but receives grace and forgiveness. Despite this, he
still dies gruesomely at a young age. Satan tries to tell Theodor that this was
a kind outcome considering his alternative, but as a human, Theodor has trouble
understanding this divine perspective. When Satan finally tells him that life
is a dream, Theodor mentions feeling “a vague, dim, but blessed and hopeful
feeling that the incredible words might be true […]” (103). The strong
emotional influence Satan could potentially explain this has over the humans he
meets. However, another interpretation is that Theodor needs to feel that the
universe is a fabrication due to the trauma he endures over the course of the
novella.
Theodor’s development is best encapsulated by Satan’s
assessment of Father Peter: “Only the mad can be happy, and few of those. The
few that imagine themselves as kings or gods are happy, the rest are no happier
than the sane” (97). Theodor’s circumstances are markedly different but can be
understood through these sentiments. Father Peter’s insanity prevents him from
perceiving true horrors, and Theodor exists in a similar blindness due to the
isolated nature of Eseldorf. At the onset of the story, Theodor possesses a
childlike wonder and is excited at the prospect of exploring the world through
magic and whimsy; however, as this wish is fulfilled, he begins to find
unspeakable cruelty in both his village and across the globe. Theodor gains
knowledge and an understanding of the truth but does so at a great cost.
SATAN/PHILIP TRAUM
Satan is an angel visiting Earth. He is the devil’s nephew
and has a slew of magical powers, including creating life, taking possession of
others, and teleportation. As he is comparatively young for an angel, he takes
the form of a handsome young man. While Theodor, Seppi, and Nikolaus are aware
of his true identity, the other villagers know him as Philip Traum. Satan’s
main role in the novella is expanding Theodor’s perception of the world by
exposing him to the hypocrisy of human morality. Satan views human morality,
which he calls the “Moral Sense,” as nothing but a tool that exists to condone
violence and evil. He takes Theodor to an industrial French town, where he
watches factory workers of all ages labor in unspeakable conditions.
Satan argues that these workers did nothing to deserve these
conditions and are subjected to them because the factory owners use morality to
justify their treatment of them. In this sense, he illuminates the flaws in a
fundamental human belief system. An individual is able to interpret morality in
their own way; depending on the person, this can yield catastrophic results. In
this case, it gives factory owners the opportunity to give their employees the
bare minimum. Even though their workers’ quality of life is obviously dismal,
the bosses are able to turn a blind eye because the workers can eat, and the
business is lucrative. This hypocrisy allows the reader to understand some of
Satan’s more disparaging views on humanity.
Despite Satan’s apparent disdain for the hypocrisy of man, he
occasionally exhibits similar tendencies. One of his first acts upon meeting
the boys is killing clay men that he brought to life when they start to annoy
him. He justifies his actions by explaining angels’ sinless nature: We others
are still ignorant of sin; we are not able to commit it; we are without
blemish. [...].’ ‘We cannot do wrong; neither have we any disposition to do it,
for we do not know what it is.’ (12)
An interpretation of Satan’s behavior is that angels have
their own moral code. However, even if this were confirmed, Satan is still
exhibiting the very behavior he so detests. He is using his interpretation of
the world and perspective as an immortal angel to justify his behavior, just as
humans use their skewed sense of morality to justify their questionable
actions.
Keeping this in mind, Satan could best be classified as
amoral, or possessing no moral code. He views the world through a cold,
utilitarian lens, basing his actions on an approximation of how much happiness
his target will experience. When he adjusts Frau Brandt’s career, causing her
to be burnt at the stake, he justifies his actions by saying he is giving her
an extra twenty-nine years in heaven. It is unclear whether he has a precise
method of determining good and evil, or if he simply relies on his unabashed
disdain for the human race.
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER THEMES
HUMAN
NATURE
Theodor’s interactions with Satan force him to grapple with
the failings of human nature. Upon meeting the angel, he is presented with a
variety of new perspectives. When he witnesses the complete breakdown of
kindness in his town, he contends with human failings head on. Though his
worldview is impacted by Satan’s teachings, Theodor did not necessarily begin
his journey with a belief that humans are good. He mentions seeing Father Peter
repeatedly denied mercy from his peers even before his trial. Nobody stands up
to him when the astrologer spreads rumors that ruin his career, and his lender
loses patience when he cannot pay his mortgage. However, Satan’s intervention
suggests that these actions are the rule, not the exception.
Satan repeatedly asserts that humans are fundamentally
inferior to angels. One reason for this is because his status as a divine
immortal prevents him from fully empathizing with their struggles. However, his
second reason is grounded in thousands of years of watching humanity. In his
eyes, the Moral Sense allows them to justify horrible wrongdoing for selfish
reasons. He tells Theodor that humans have an inflated sense of self-importance
since they claim to have harnessed this morality. On the contrary, it brings
them lower than illogical, unintelligent animals. Satan says, “When a brute
inflicts pain he does it innocently; it is not wrong; for him there is no such
thing as wrong. And he does not inflict pain for the pleasure of inflicting it
– only man does that. Inspired by that mongrel Moral Sense of him!” (39). This
shows that human logic drives them to sin. They are evil when they understand
that their actions cause pain and do so anyway. Conversely, animals lack this
logic. A dog who bites a human does not do so with the intent to commit
wrongdoing – they act out of fear or pain. While humans may feel these
emotions, Satan argues that they should use their higher faculties to ensure
that these do not translate into harming others.
As Satan shows Theodor other places and times, he
demonstrates how certain personal failures lead to widespread casualties. To
illustrate this point, Satan discusses the human tendency to act like “sheep,”
and succumb to those that loudly tout the most widely supported belief. This is
exemplified when the town chastises Satan for not stoning the woman hanged for
witchcraft. He explains to Theodor that he laughed in their faces because he
knew most of them did not want to harm the woman: “Well, there were sixty-eight
people there, and sixty-two of them had no more desire to throw a stone than
you had” (87). Humans see how their peers tend to treat outsiders, and do not
want to be subjected to the same conduct. This leads them to adopt behaviors
they know are wrong to perpetuate. In a small town like Eseldorf, this
manifests in witch hunting. However, Satan explains that on a global scale,
this drives widespread war and violence.
THE
FALLIBILITY OF GOD/RELIGION
Eseldorf’s primary characteristic is its devout residents.
Theodor explains that this is by design: education is limited to worship and
understanding the Bible. This makes it all the more crushing when characters
are betrayed by their faith. The most prominent example of this is Father
Peter. As a man of God, Father Peter has a reverence for his religion. While we
never see him in action as a preacher, we are told he is beloved by the town.
Theodor describes Father Peter as the one “that we all loved best and were
sorriest for” (4). He views God as a beacon of kindness and mercy. He also has
faith in the Moral Sense. Father Peter is the first one to provide a concrete
definition of the concept, saying that “it is the one thing that lifts man
above the beasts that perish and makes him heir to immortality” (26). He also
initially refuses to take Satan’s money despite his need, instead trying to
reunite it with its rightful owner. His prominent faith makes his downfall all
the more painful. Despite his constant efforts to be good, he arguably suffers
more than any character in the book. He is arrested trying to provide for his
family, withers away in jail, and loses his mind before he can enjoy his
innocence. This all occurs after he lives a life in service to God and
religion.
Religion also fails humanity as a whole. Satan demonstrates
that Christianity is at the root of maladies like exploitation and war. The
French factory he shows Theodor is managed by men who are “very holy” (41).
Despite what their faith tells them about treating others, they let their
workers live in squalor so as to preserve their personal wealth. After looking
into the future, Satan shows the boys “Christianity and Civilization march[ing]
hand in hand” and remarks that they are “leaving famine and death and
desolation in their wake, and other signs of the progress of the human race”
(80). He argues that religion’s warped Moral Sense is rotting civilization and
forcing people to conflate progress with destruction.
HUMAN
VERSUS DIVINE PERCEPTION
Ideas relating to human perception are prevalent within The
Mysterious Stranger. They are primarily presented by Satan, who sees faults in
the human ability to perceive important truths about each other and the world around
them. These criticisms heighten throughout the book, beginning with attacks on
the human moral code and culminating in Satan’s shock at Theodor’s inability to
see the real nature of the universe. Satan frequently argues that humans are
hindered by the Moral Sense, which allows them to justify immoral actions for
selfish purposes. Even if someone knows that something is bad, they can
intentionally change their perception to focus on how it benefits them
individually. The suffering Theodor witnesses in the French factory exemplifies
this. Satan explains that “The proprietors are rich, and very holy; but the
wage they pay these poor brothers and sisters of theirs is only enough to keep
them from dropping dead with hunger” (41). Despite being aware of the
deplorable living and working conditions their employees endure, the managers
are able to convince themselves they can continue operating in the same way due
to their intentionally closed off perception. This demonstrates how the Moral
Sense can obscure the truth.
Similarly, they cannot or will not perceive the hypocrisy of
their actions. Many characters fall into this trap. The astrologer claims to be
hurt by Father Peter’s supposed transgressions against him but spends the
entire novella trying to make his life miserable. Theodor tries to make
Nikolaus’ last days alive as pleasant as possible but recalls several “cases
where I had wronged him or hurt him [...] and my heart was wrung with remorse
[...]” (67). Even Satan himself falls prey to this hypocrisy; he claims to be
omnipotent but refuses to acknowledge how his actions will impact others
without his perspective.
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