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Summary
1.Although both its artistry and its themes have drawn contradictory evaluations,The Clown artfully reveals the
perceptions of the title character, Hans Schnier. Hanss past-tense narration of three crucial hours creates the
immediacy of stream of consciousness, punctuated with telephone conversations that trigger Hanss opinionated
memories of his childhood in World War II and his life as an outsider in the postwar period.
Returning to his Bonn apartment, drunken, failed, and penniless after an injury on stage, Hans, the scion of the
brown-coal Schniers, who has separated himself from his wealthy family and their values, grieves that his
companion, Marie Derkam, the Catholic daughter of an old socialist, has left him after seven years to marry
Heribert Zpfner, a Catholic lay functionary. Hans telephones his family and Maries circle of Catholics to seek
money and news of Marie. In conversations with the Catholic officials, Hans espouses the spiritual and sensual
marriage in which the lovers offer each other the sacrament and rejects the validity of legal and ecclesiastical
marriage if it lacks reciprocal grace. Denying the virtue of Hanss relationship with Marie, the Catholics defend
submission to abstract principles of order and reveal that Marie and Zpfner are honeymooning in Rome.
A call to Hanss socially prominent mother, a nationalist racist who in 1945 urged a last stand of children
against the Jewish Yankee but now directs the Societies for the Reconciliation of Racial Differences, points
up the hypocrisy of many rehabilitated Nazis in postwar Germanyas do Hanss recollections of Herbert
Kalick, his Hitler Youth leader who has been decorated for popularizing democracy among the youth of postwar
Germany. Hans cannot forget or forgive Kalicks responsibility for the death of a little orphan boy. Nor can
Hans forgive his mothers sending her adolescent daughter, Henrietta, to death on antiaircraft patrol in the last
days of the war.
Informed that Hans is in Bonn, his father, the industrialist whose fine looks and manner have made him a
television spokesman for German economic renewal, visits the apartment and offers to support Hans if he will
train with a famous mime recommended by a famous critic. Hans rejects his fathers philistinism and his
reverence for money in the abstract. Although he remembers gratefully his fathers having saved two women
from execution in 1945, Hans rebuffs the old capitalist who accommodates himself to whatever political and
social authority is current.
In other telephone conversations and memories, Hans condemns a popular preacher, Somerwild, and through
him the Church, for pseudointellectualism, sophistry, and worldly self-aggrandizement. His brother, Leo, a
seminarian, resists breaking curfew to bring Hans companionship and moneyfurther evidence of legalisms

inhibiting the Churchs mission of consolation and charity. In reverie Hans foresees a stultifying conventional
middle-class life for Marie and Zpfner.
A call from his agent and meditations on his profession, especially his memory of having refused to play satires
on the West German democracy in East Germany, reveal Hans to be an artist in the tradition of the German
cabaret clown: an entertainer whose satire reveals society to itself. After the three hours traffic that passes in his
mind, Hans, integrity intact but completely isolated from both groups and individuals, returns in cracked white
face to the train station. There, still looking for a few coins and Marie, he sings a ballad of Catholic politics in
Bonn with small hope that his performance may yet make church and state see itself. Yet if Marie, he says, sees
him like this and remains with Zpfner, then she is dead and they are divorced. Institutional religion will have
killed reciprocal love.
2.The Clown is a first-person narrative which exposes the accommodations of postwar West German society to
the success of the Economic Miracle, that astounding industrial recovery after the destruction of World War II.
Members of the highest circles of society, with representatives from church and state as well as the military and
industry, have conveniently forgotten the recent past in order to further their personal or institutional successes.
They are conformists who no longer recognize their hypocritical existencesuntil reminded by a renegade
clown. For his continued impudence, the clown must suffer without recourse. He lacks the unscrupulous
behavior (often disguised as piety, generosity, and human concern) with which the others can so easily dispatch
him.
Three months after his girlfriend, Marie Derkum, has left him, Hans Schnier falls during a drunken performance
in Bochum and injures his knee. His career is faltering as he returns alone and destitute to his hometown of
Bonn. From his apartment, he communicates with family, friends, and acquaintances by telephone, ostensibly to
borrow money but also to rally support to reclaim his Marie. These calls are interspersed with his memories
of past events. Thus, gradually, the chronology of the entire story unfolds. The novels action spans no more
than four hours on a March evening.
First, Hans telephones his mother, an incredibly stupid, and stingy woman. A German nationalist and racist
during the war, when she sent her only daughter Henrietta to fight (and die) on the home front, she is now on
the executive committee of the Societies for the Reconciliation of Racial Differences. Hans cannot bring
himself to beg for money from this hypocrite, so he insults her with memories of her injustices during the Third
Reich and hangs up.
During unsuccessful attempts to telephone his brother, Leo, in a seminary, Hans recalls his seduction of Marie
six years before, their affair or marriage, her two miscarriages, and her leaving him in Hanover after meeting

the Catholics Sommerwild and Zupfner. He is prompted to phone Fredebeul and then Kinkel, a liberal Catholic
thinker. He realizes that he may gain some degree of satisfaction from insulting these opportunists, but such
behavior will not help him regain Marie.
Just before his bath, Hanss telephone rings. His agent, Zohnerer, advises him to forget his childish drinking,
to train conscientiously for three months, and then to resume his career. Here, Hans repeats his dictum that, by
age fifty, a clown has either made it to the palace or to the gutter; he must certainly realize that, at age twentyseven, he is already not far from the gutter. Still, he cannot concentrate on his career. He weeps when thinking
of Marie, Leo, Henrietta, and his fatherpeople who have played significant roles in his past and are now
effectively gone from his life.
In the pivotal thirteenth chapter (the structural and literal midpoint of the book), Prelate Sommerwild telephones
Hans. Hans learns that Marie has married Zupfner and is now on her honeymoon, on the way to Rome, probably
for an audience with the Pope. With Sommerwilds official confirmation of the marriage ceremony, despair sets
in.
Hanss melancholy is interrupted by the doorbell. His father, Alfons Schnier, has come to hire an expert trainer
and, thus, subsidize Hanss career, but Hans insists that he does not require an expert, only money. Despite their
mutual respect, his father cannot give money to someone who will simply spend it and not invest it. Both father
and son respect each other and yearn for the contact of a warm and loving relationship. Because of their
differing attitudes, however, they can find no common ground, and the father leaves.
Finally Hanss brother, Leo, calls. Hans has pinned his greatest hopes on Leo, who has always been considerate
and extremely generous with his limited funds. Unfortunately, Leo has little money and cannot come this
evening. (He has a curfew in the seminary and will not break it.) In addition, Leo now seems to have joined the
Catholic establishment that is trying to separate Hans from Marie. Disillusioned, Hans hangs up on his brother,
thus forfeiting his last hope for outside help.
In desperation, Hans paints his face deathly white with cold cream; when dry, this mask begins to flake and
crack, creating a deathly visage. He then takes his guitar and leaves for the train station, where he will sit on the
steps, singing liturgical music and protest songs until Marie returns to the station from her Roman honeymoon.
Her reaction, upon seeing Hans in misery, will determine his fate: She will either embrace him, and all will be
well again; or she will ignore him, signaling his complete desolation. Since it is March and the middle of Mardi
Gras, however, his garish appearance cannot be distinguished from those of the many costumed revelers. Is he
to sit there throughout Lent as a sign of protest or penance? Will he be able to rise above his persecution as the

religious season might imply, or will he commit suicide in recognition of his hopeless fate, as his death mask
suggests?
3.Hans Schnier, a professional clown, returns to Bonn, his hometown, after he injures his knee performing his
act while drunk. When Schnier arrives in Bonn, he has little money (his last employer refused to pay his full
fee), no savings, and little hope of future work. Only weeks before this injury, Schnier was a highly paid, wellregarded performer earning enough to live in luxury hotels with Marie Derkum, his lover and companion. When
Marie leaves him to marry Heribert Zpfner, a Catholic official and a member of a religious group to which
Marie belongs, Schnier ceases to care about the quality of his work as a clown. He stops practicing and starts to
drink more, which causes his performances to decline rapidly.
From his Bonn apartment, Schnier calls friends and family members, hoping for monetary and emotional
support. However, each of his actions, even his conversations, triggers painful memories. At first these
flashbacks are brief recollections of Marie and her group of progressive Catholics, but the reveries increase in
length. In one of his early flashbacks, Schnier remembers his sister affectionately; she often acted
unconventionally, saying and doing what she felt. With her parents encouragement, especially that of her
mother, this sister was sent on antiaircraft duty in February, 1945, on a mission that killed her. Schnier blames
his mothers nationalistic fervor for his sisters death, and when he calls his mother, her official tone and her
greeting phraseExecutive Committee of the Societies for the Reconciliation of Racial Differencesangers
Schnier and reminds him of his mothers zeal when sending her daughter off to save German soil from Jewish
Yankees. Although Schnier is calling his mother to ask for her support, he cruelly answers her greeting by
saying, I am a delegate of the Executive Committee of Jewish Yankees, just passing throughmay I please
speak to your daughter? Mrs. Schnier is momentarily hurt, but she recovers quickly and rebuffs her son with
her severe, dogmatic manner.
After the conversation with his mother, Schnier thinks of Marie, and that triggers the memory of an event that
occurred six years earlier and resulted in the consummation of their relationship. Hans was twenty-one and
Marie nineteen when he went boldly to her room and slept with her. After this, Marie dropped out of school, and
Schnier left his family to begin his career as a clown, but his career developed slowly and the two barely earned
enough money to survive. They both wanted children, but Marie had a number of miscarriages. The final one
occurred just before she left. Schniers memories of his life with Marie were occasionally interrupted by
speculations about Maries present relationship with Zpfner, a relationship Schnier considered adulterous even
though Marie and Zpfner are married.
Schnier calls other friends and relatives and holds unpleasant conversations with each. Although he wants
money and psychological support from them, his manner ensures that even those who can help him do not.

When he talks to Kinkel, a respected Catholic theologian and a member of the group to which Marie and
Zpfner belong, Schnier blames Kinkel and the Catholic Church for his loss of Marie: That much I have
grasped of your metaphysics: What she is doing is fornication and adultery, and Prelate Sommerwild is acting
the pimp. Schnier attacks Kinkel throughout their conversation, and he asserts that his relationship with Marie
constitutes a marriage that Kinkel and others destroyed.
While waiting for friends to return his telephone calls, Schnier bathes and reads newspapers. This, too, causes
him to remember Marie and her Catholic group. He recalls that at first he had refused to marry Marie because
she insisted on a Catholic marriage that required him to swear that their children would be raised in the Catholic
faith. Later, when he was willing to agree to these conditions, Marie refused to marry him because she did not
accept his conversion as sincere. Schnier believed that his union with Marie constituted a marriage, whether
condoned by the government and the church or not, but Marie needed Schniers commitment to the church.
When Schnier talks with Sommerwild, a Catholic priest who is a member of Maries group, Schnier accuses
him of having furthered Maries marriage to Zpfner, claiming that the priest sent the couple to Rome to make
the whoring complete.
Still waiting for phone calls, Schnier is surprised by the unexpected appearance of his father, a wealthy German
capitalist. The visit is awkward and unpleasant for both, since they had not seen each other for several years and
never had a meaningful conversation. The two discuss many painful issues, but Schnier junior believes his
father is playing a role that he cannot abandon even to help his son. Schnier junior refers to the needless
hardships the family suffered and the fact that, despite their wealth, they never had enough food. Schnier also
remembers that his father twice during the war showed compassion: once when Schnier was accused of
defeatism and once when two women were accused of fraternizing with the enemy. The father agrees to pay
his son a monthly stipend, but Schnier knows he will never receive it.
After his father leaves, Schnier reads in the evening paper that Herbert Kalick received a federal cross of merit
for his services in spreading democratic ideas among the young. This is the same Herbert Kalick who led the
local Hitler youth group during World War II. It is Kalick who denounced Schnier as a defeatist, and he is
also responsible for the death of a young boy whom Kalick forced to carry a loaded bazooka.
Schnier attempts many times to contact his brother, Leo, who is in a Catholic seminary. Leo, who converted
from Protestantism to Catholicism, renounced most worldly possessions and refuses to break the seminarys
rules to help his brother. Schnier contacts Monika Silvs, a sympathetic member of the Catholic group who
helped him in the past, but Sommerwild instructed her to avoid Schnier. When it becomes clear that he will
receive no help or support, Schnier decides to sing, play the guitar, and beg at the train station. One March
evening, Schnier walks to the train station and sits on the steps, singing a song about Poor Pope John.

His work could be categorized as the first telephone novel in literary history. With the exception of his fathers
visit and a brief encounter in the hall with a neighbors wife, Hanss contact with the outside world is
maintained exclusively by means of this modern instrument. While Bll is able to create telephone dialogues as
effective as traditional dramatic discourse, such conversations serve primarily as stimuli; they trigger Hanss
memory, and the recollections, in turn, constitute the bulk of the novel. The various conversations also lend
credibility to the predominantly subjective narrative stance from which Hans Schnier tells his own story; his
monologues and memories could be seen as the mistaken ramblings of a paranoid young man were it not for
corroborative statements made in these telephone conversations.
A recurring theme in Blls works concerns the reactions of contemporary society to its guilt-ridden past of
Fascism and war. Since society has repressed its historical past in favor of reconstruction and restoration, there
is no one but this obscure clown to provide a social conscience. His commentaryindeed, his presenceis
unwelcome, as it exposes hypocrisy in the highest circles. For Bll, the one institution which most dramatically
exemplifies con-temporary hypocrisy is the Catholic Church; since Bll has chosen Bonn as the site for this
work, the Church there should be seen as representative of all West Germany. The primary aspect of the novel
which calls the Churchs hierarchy into question revolves around the timeless sanctity of marriage: Is marriage
derived from a spiritual or a legal base? Is the Churchs blessing vital to its existence? Finally, is marriage even
possible in a corrupt society? These are questions that arise when Hans argues that his unlegitimized
relationship with Marie was moral, and that her present marriage (though legal in the eyes of the Church) is
prostitution.
Bll intended such bold distinctions to provoke a thoughtful response to present practices within a church which
has long prized its historical and theological mission of mercy and salvation. In Blls works, the Church as an
institution has aligned itself with the existing power structure to secure its own position within the status quo.
Its representatives are no longer shepherds of the flock but personalities whose fashionable intellectual stance
has perverted their mission. No church official of significance in the entire novel displays mercy, tolerance, or
understanding of Hanss individual plight. In fact, they seem to be scheming either to incorporate him into the
Church or to isolate him completely from societyin either case, to render him harmless. The ultimate antidote
to this attitude is offered in the epigraph to the novel, a biblical quotation from Romans 15:21: To whom he
was not spoken of, they shall see; and they that have not heard shall understand.
The Clown Themes
Representative of Boll's literary oeuvre, The Clown incorporates many of the prominent thematic elements
considered by Boll to be of fundamental significance in his work: the alienation of the individual by a
dehumanizing, materialistic, and often emasculating society; the corruption of Christian ethic and spirituality;
the loss of traditional familial and social unity; and the failure of mankind to accept the moral responsibilities of
the age. In the novel, Hans Schnier, the son of a wealthy industrialist father and socially-dominated mother,
emerges as the unique and endangered protagonist, artistic, temperamental, at times irrational, yet inherently
kind and decent. Refusing as a young man to conform to middle-class standards, Hans chose instead to become
a clown, surely a personal statement directed toward his family as well as a means to express in his
performances the absurdities of existence. Successful in his profession, Hans falls in love with Marie Derkum,
seemingly his counterpart in rebellion, who eventually leaves him, rejecting both his lifestyle and his refusal to
adopt her religious ideology. Typical of many of Boll's protagonists, Hans represents the individual victimized
by the world in which he lives, struggling to survive, yet refusing to compromise his principles for mere
survival.
Beginning with the publication of Billiards at Half-Past Nine (1962), Boll initiated a creative process to
systematically investigate and analyze the development of German society while intertwining in his fiction the

generation which experienced the First World War and the generation which grew up under Hitler. As part of
this process, The Clownrepresents a satirical commentary on contemporary Germany. Compressed within a
single evening following a disastrous performance, the novel unfolds with stinging clarity as Hans purges
himself of association with society and accentuates his rejection with symbolic protest dressed in clown-white
and costume. Although set in the present, The Clown is undoubtedly intended as a reflection of the past,
permeated with the unmistakable presence of the war, its futility, its waste and destruction, and its impact on the
Schnier family. Similar to the character of Hans, Boll demands and will accept nothing less than unmitigated
truth, infinitely aware that its realization could prove to be painfully final.
Hans Schnier
Hans Schnier (shneer), a professional clown. All events in this first-person novel are seen through the eyes of
Hans, the twenty-seven-year-old son of a wealthy industrialist. He is not, however, the typical son of a rich
businessman. As a youth, he showed little aptitude for school, and he has never had any interest in business.
Instead, Hans has the character traits and temperament of an artist: He is spontaneous, impulsive, creative,
nave, and innocent, and he cannot feign feelings that he does not possess. Nor can he, as someone once urged
him, be a man. To be a man, he would have to become like everyone else, which he cannot and will not do.
Similarly, he cannot act on his fathers criticism that he lacks the very quality that makes a man a man: the
ability to accept a situation. Hans, unlike most of his friends and acquaintances, does not want to accept the past
and gloss it over, nor does he want to be merely swept along by the new tide of democracy. These qualities
make him a misfit and an outsider. The loss of Marie destroys his primary link to the real world. Without her, he
turns more and more to drink and ends up alone, playing his guitar and singing for a few coins from passersby
at the train station.
Marie Derkum
Marie Derkum (DEHR-kuhm), the young woman whom Hans considers to be his wife, although they are not
legally married. Sweet, trusting, and religious, Marie is in many ways the antithesis of Hans: She is from a very
poor background, performed well in school, and is a devout Catholic. In time, her desire to return to the good
graces of the church and to have a conventional, church-sanctioned marriage overcomes her love of Hans, and
she leaves him to marry Prelate Zpfner.
Alfons Schnier
Alfons Schnier, the director of a coal-mining company and father of Hans. When Hans was growing up, his
mother was the dominant personality in the family. Hans also has vivid memories of his father, such as how he
courageously defended Hans when, as a boy of about ten, he called Herbert Kalick a Nazi swine. Schnier is
now a handsome, distinguished-looking man in his sixties who has recently discovered that he has a talent as a
television talk-show guest. He offers his son financial assistance, but only on the condition that Hans take
formal training from the best teacher. Hans does not accept his fathers offer.
Mrs. Schnier
Mrs. Schnier, Hanss mother, a homemaker and socialite. Hans considers her to be stupid, stingy, and
hypocritical. During the war, she was a staunch racist and a fanatical German nationalist. She even sent her only
daughter, sixteen-year-old Henrietta, to fight (and die) on the home front. Now Mrs. Schnier is president of the
Executive Committee of the Societies for the Reconciliation of Racial Differences. Hans has never forgiven his
mother for the death of his beloved sister, and he has not seen her since he left home to live with Marie and
become a professional clown, more than five years earlier.

Heribert Zpfner
Heribert Zpfner (HEHR-ih-behrt ZEWPF-nehr), a Catholic prelate, about the same age as Hans. Zpfner, who
as a youth was kind to Hans and occasionally went out with Marie, is one of several prominent young Catholics
among Hans and Maries friends, including Sommerwild and Kinkel. By convincing Marie to leave Hans for
him, he shatters Hanss world.
Herbert Kalick
Herbert Kalick (HEHR-behrt KAH-lihk), a recent recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit for his work in
spreading democratic ideas among young people. When he was a youth of fourteen, Kalick, while serving as the
leader of Hanss Hitler Youth group, was responsible for the death of one small boy and for the persecution of
another lad who could not prove his Aryan background. Now a shining light in the new democratic movement,
Kalick has recently invited Hans to his house to ask forgiveness for his past mistakes. Hans, however, cannot
forgive and strikes him before leaving without accepting the offer of reconciliation.
Leo Schnier
Leo Schnier, Hanss younger brother, who became a Catholic and is now a seminary student. He is generous,
undemanding, and generally supportive of his brother.
Martin Derkum
Martin Derkum, Maries father, a not very successful shopkeeper. He is an intellectual and thought by many to
be a Communist. Kind, generous, and not the typical chameleon of the times, changing with each new situation,
he is one of the few men Hans respects.
Hans, as a clown, immediately evokes several cultural and historical associations. First, he is Pagliacci, the
clown who is laughing on the outside, crying on the inside as a result of his separation from Marie. Despite
his spontaneity and innocence, at the age of twenty-seven he is no longer a romantic youth but a mature adult
who has not joined the establishment because of his nature and profession. He is not an acquisitive materialist;
he enjoys simple pleasures such as playing Parcheesi, taking long baths, reading newspapers, singing liturgical
music, and making love with Marie.
Second, Hans conforms to the archetype of the medieval fool, who, because of his fools freedom, is allowed to
speak openly; that is, he has official permission to make any statement, regardless of its veracity, as long as it is
entertaining. Ironically, these pronouncements frequently represent truth or wisdom. As a clown, Hans shows
audiences the comic nature of their everyday routine, the foolishness behind their overly serious drive to
succeed and acquire. Hanss strength of character and single-minded purpose make him a sympathetic
individual even though, in his private life, Hans cannot help but alienate those powerful figures whose lives he
exposes.
Though Hans is an artist, and the reader learns much about his life-style and preferences, his experiences and
convictions, this work is not primarily a Kunstlerroman. Heinrich Bll uses the artist as an outsider, a
knowledgeable but distanced observer of German societymost specifically, the influential circles of church
and industrywith a strong personal interest in the outcome. Hans is innocent but not naive; he observes and
understands the power structure but without any desire to participate. Nevertheless, society cannot tolerate such
an individual who, through his art, brings insight into the hypocrisy of everyday life.

Marie is a mysterious figure throughout the novel. She vacillates between her love and devotion to Hans and to
the Church. She does not actually appear in the novel, other than through Hanss recollections and references
from other characters. Why she ultimately left Hans to rejoin the Church and marry Zupfner is unclear. Feminist
critics have emphasized Hanss ignorance of her individuality, but this argument is specious: Marie had made
many choices of her own free will to reconcile with Hans after their inevitable lovers quarrels, and he was the
one who encouraged her wavering faith by waking her Sunday mornings to attend Mass. Regardless of her
motivation, it is imperative for the novels development that Marie, the one person in this outsiders life, be
separated from him. He had hoped to live quietly with Marie on the fringe of society but soon learns that society
will not allow him to do so. Now, completely alone, Hans is motivated to fight for her, to voice his objections
to the hypocrites and conformists who have stunted his development.
Though politicians and members of the military are criticized in passing, the industrial Schnier family and
church hierarchy are the main targets ofThe Clown. The Schnier family itself represents a cross section of
German society: the sister, Henrietta, is the innocent civilian killed in the futile war effort; the brother, Leo, is
the uncertain youth who denies his heritage and converts to Catholicism, studying in the seminary and, thus,
denying his worldly existence; the mother is the blind patriot, and materialist who adapts to prevailing social
trends without hesitation; the father is the sensitive but responsible industrialist, brave in time of need but
ultimately made impotent by his rigid standards of property and propriety. Of the entire family, Hans is the only
one who will not, indeed cannot, forget the past.
There are several characters who represent different aspects of the Catholic establishment, including
Sommerwild, Fredebeul, Kinkel, and Blothert, for example, though it is difficult to distinguish between them.
They represent types more than distinct personalities, since their conformity tends to obliterate any
distinguishing traits.
The Clown Characters
Hans Schnier is the "Clown" of the novel's title and invariably the spokesperson for Boll as the author. A
contradiction of terms, the twenty-seven-year-old Hans is at once worldly and naive, emotional and lethargic,
antagonistic and remorseful. Possessing a genuine faith in humanity, Hans is searching for a meaningful
existence, yet his quest seems inevitably doomed to failure. Agnostic as well as enigmatic, Hans rejects the
organized institutions of society in favor of self-conceptualized isolation. Consequently, although his integrity
as an individual is preserved, his personal life and professional reputation are sadly destroyed.
Throughout the novel, Hans remains the primary focus of attention, and apart from a visit by his father, the only
character physically introduced to the reader. Of interest, however, either by telephone conversation or
recollection, the reader becomes intimately familiar with the major participants in the protagonist's life: family,
former friends, professional associates, and personal enemies. Boll is most attentive in the novel to the female
characters, illuminating Hans in light of the contrast between the hypocrisy of his mother and the innocence of
his sister Henrietta, whose unnecessary death during the war triggered Hans' systematic withdrawal. In addition,
the character of Marie is presented as an enticing mixture of human sexuality and sensualness, ultimately
corrupted by the conventions of a manipulative and unfeeling society. Without Marie, Hans is aimlessly adrift,
consumed with despair, yet unfailing in his love and impenitent in his belief.
The Clown was an immediate best-seller. (It was later produced as a play in 1970 and as a film in 1975, though
without the success of the novel.) The novel represented a break from Blls previous fiction, which had
concentrated on experiences from the war. Beginning in the early 1960s, in fiction and in increasingly frequent
essays, Bll critically examined postwar institutions as agents of restoration or corruption.

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Bll originally began The Clown as a third-person narrative but soon allowed Hans to tell his own story. As one
of Blls few active heroes, however, Hans offered a solution which was neither practical in his own
immediate situation nor a model for West German social protest in general. The novel was considered
scandalous from the outset for its criticism of the Catholic Church. Bll repeatedly insisted that he was always
faithful to that religion and, despite his withdrawal from the Church in his later life, must be considered a
Catholic who attempted to improve an institution that he loved.
Nine years after writing The Clown, a work that exemplifies the themes and methods employed in his other
novels, Heinrich Bll received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Bll was a post-World War II German writer from
a Catholic, pacifist family, a writer who fought in the war and was wounded four times before being captured
and taken to an American prisoner-of-war camp, so his life and fiction encapsulate the religious, moral, and
political dilemmas of post-World War II Germany. The Clown is the personal narrative of a single person, one
individual, Hans Schnier, who is the clown of the title. In focusing on the characters idiosyncratic view of the
world and in particular on his love for Marie, the novel explores the problems of all humans in twentieth
century societies.
On a political level, the book recounts Hanss involvement with a Nazi youth group; his sisters death for the
Nazi cause; his mothers anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi views; his own condemnation by another youth as a defeatist;
and his fathers tacit support of the Nazis. The focus of Blls satire is on those hypocrites who blindly
supported fascism as well as on those who impetuously shifted their allegiance after the war. Hanss mother, for
example, an ardent Nazi supporter before 1945, afterward becomes the president of a society for the
reconciliation of racial differences. Bll accurately depicts and attacks the erstwhile Nazis who attained
positions of power in Germany during the 1960s, but on a more universal level the author satirizes all humans
who heedlessly pledge allegiance to any political cause.
The Clown also explores a religious schism in German society. Hans is from a Protestant family, but Marie is an
ardent Catholic and belongs to an influential and powerful Catholic group. The clowns brother abandons his
familys Protestant religion and trains to be a Catholic priest in a seminary, a decision that hurts his parents. On
one level, Bll examines the split between German Protestants and Catholics, but on another level he looks at a
more universal question that parallels the political dilemma: To what extent should an individual blindly accept
the doctrine of a religion? Marie accepts the teachings of her group and leaves the clown. Leo abandons his
parents faith to join the Catholic Church, but his decision appears no more thoughtful than had been his
decision to enlist in the army. The religious and political themes ultimately reinforce the novels discussion of
marriage.

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Who has the right to sanction a marriage? Hans learns that the state must issue a license before a church will
perform the marriage. In his case, he would have had to sign a document swearing that he would raise his
children in the Catholic Church. In opposition to these conventional, institutional definitions of marriage, the
clown, Hans, advocates a monogamous, common-law definition that allows him to claim Marie as his wife. The
issue of marriage moves the political and religious themes to a very personal level, forcing the reader to
consider whether marriage is a private, personal commitment between two individuals or a public, religious
matter.
These questions of politics, religion, and marriage are presented ironically through the eyes of Hans, whose
interior monologue conveys his anger, suffering, headaches, depression, and grief. The reader can identify with
him because in his suffering he exposes the failings of others, even though his persona as an alcoholic clown
can elicit little empathy or compassion. His role as a clown symbolizes his inability to commit and to take life
seriously, but despite his faults the clown represents the individual who locates morality and responsibility
within himself and fears those who abdicate their responsibility to society at large. Through Hans, Bll explores
the harm done by those who dogmatically accept the beliefs of political parties or organized religions. The
Clown ultimately exhorts individuals to contemplate their relationship with authority and other human beings.
Cunoscut in intreaga lume, Heinrich Boll a fost distins in 1972 cu Premiul Nobel pentru Literatura.
Opiniile unui clovn este un studiu al ipocrizei si al alienarii emotionale, sexuale, religioase, politice vazute
prin ochii goi ai unui artist decazut care, pina in ultima clipa, refuza adaptarea la o lume in care despre bani si
despre dragoste nu se vorbeste niciodata. Sint clovn sau, denumirea oficiala a profesiunii mele, comic asa
se prezinta Hans Schnier, artistul nefericit din perspectiva caruia este radiografiata societatea germana din
timpul si de dupa cel de-al Doilea Razboi Mondial. Cu un cinism fermecator prin naivitatea pe care o ascunde si
pe un ton de o ironie amara, clovnul lui Boll se implica intr-o disputa dinainte pierduta cu lasitatea,
dogmatismul si ipocrizia Germaniei postbelice. Singur in apartamentul sau, beat, nefericit, ranit trupeste si
sufleteste, dezamagit in dragoste, Schnier se confrunta cu propriile amintiri: o familie protestanta care-si trimite
fiica in bratele mortii de dragul datoriei fata de sfintul pamint german, o iubita indoctrinata religios care il
paraseste sub pretextul nevoii de a respira aer catolic . Tuturor acestora, Schnier le opune increderea neclintita
in autenticitatea artei sale, refuzul de a spune altceva decit adevarul si dragostea pentru o singura femeie.
Operele mari ale umanitii sunt cele care nu au ancore n timp. Proaspete, pline de miez, asezonate cu
adevruri naturale, pot fi consumate de orice generaie. Heinrich Bll a reuit prin Opiniile unui clovn s se
elibereze din O tempora, o mores!. Prin descrierea vieii lui Hans Schnier, de fapt o romaneasc apologie a
unei ratri, maestrul german al scrisului, printr-o sinceritate debordant, d o smetie cu mnua de mtase unei
lumi a banilor, a intereselor politice i a prejudecilor legate de infailibilitatea familiilor de condiie.
Romanul pare a fi o hologram. Scris n urm cu o jumtate de secol este de o debordant actualitate. Din orice
unghi gseti realitatea. Printr-o tainic i fin convexitate, epicentrul povestirii triste a unui clovn ieit din
pine respinge cutumule sociale din jur: producerea banilor, importana colii i nevoia de profesionalism.
Povestea lui Hans Schiner este a unui om trist. Prsit de cuncubina sa, rmas fr contracte, uitat de familie, ne
nva ce mare pre are o marc, adic jumtate de euro. Printr-o scriitur simpl, direct i acroant, Bll ne
provoac s gustm acea melancolie profund, sinceritatea debordant i ironia cea mai grosolan, a unui

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personaj care supravieuiete, indiferent de CDU sau SPD (cele dou partide mari ale Germaniei) i n afara
canoanelor bisericii catolice. Clovnul pare a avea ce nu au ceilali: timp, suflet i rbdare. Eram mort de
oboseal, aveam dureri de stomac i de cap i stam att de ncordat n spatele fotoliului, nct genunchiul
ncepuse s m doar i mai tare. n spatele pleoapelor nchise mi puteam vedea faa, aa cum o cunoteam
din oglinda miilor de ore de antrenament, cu desvrire imobil, machiat cu o vopsea alb ca zpada, nu mi
se micau nici mcar genele sau sprncenele, ci doar ochii, pe care-i roteam ncet ncolo i-ncoace ca un
iepure fricos, pentru a crea efectul la numit de critici ca Genneholm<>, aa descrie mai mereu prezena sa n
erzaul ntmplrilor ce se ciocnesc de el, fr s vrea.
Greutatea romanului const n fora determinant a eroului principal de a o ierta pe Marie, de a judeca lumea
ipocrit, plin de falsuri, angoase i triri cenzurate, cu ochiul i mintea lucid a unui om care nu are ce pierde.
El e un storctor de platitudini i de efemeride pe care le piseaz i scoate din ele esena pur. Peste civa ani,
fr s-l cunoasc pe autorul german, Marin Preda avea s se remarce prin maxima profund:Dac dragoste nu
e, nimic nu e.
Finalul crii Opiniile unui clovn este apoteotic. Tatl, un om avut, refuz s-l ajute financiar. Prsit de
prieteni i de familie, fr un sfan n buzunar, n finalul povetii s-a dus cu perna sub braul stng, cu chitara
sub cel drept, spre gar. Abia pe drum i-a dat seama c e vremea care n mod obinuit se numete a nebunilor.
Uitasem c e carnaval, spune el n final: Am nceput s cnt Srmanul pap Ioan. Nimeni nu-mi ddu
nicio atenie i nici asta nu era bine; dar dup una, dou sau trei ore vor ncepe totui s m observe. Am
tremurat de spaim cnd prima moned czu n plrie; era una de zece pfeningi. Atinsese igara i o mpinse
prea spre margine. Am pus-o din nou aa cum trebuia i am cntat mai departe.
Hans, dac fi v-a existat vreodat, acum triete prin fiecare din noi, oamenii simpli care nu cdem vasali la
cultul banului, nu ne e ruine s cerem cnd nu avem, s ardem la foc mic clipele mari. Aici e genialitatea
creatorului. i de aceea Heinrich Bll e romancierul care s-a ridicat deasupra condiiei umane.