| | (1) Summary of the Plot
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Setting the SceneIn essence, Andorra is about
anti-Semitism and its consequences. Everything takes place in a country
called Andorra. This is not the small European principality of Andorra,
rather the name of a made-up country that is a symbolic model for any
land. This is to show that what happens here could happen in any country,
period or culture.
The protagonist is a young man called Andri, who lives with
The Teacher (most of the secondary characters in the play do not have an actual
name, rather only e.g. The Teacher, The Landlord, The Somebody (a character who
symbolises the "grey, neutral masses") and so on). The Teacher
has told everybody that Andri is his adopted son, who he saved from "The
Blacks". The Blacks are hostile (presumably anti-Semitic) people from
a nearby country, who at the present time are threatening to invade
Andorra. Because of all of this, everybody believes that Andri is a Jew.
But the audience soon finds out that Andri was not
"saved" by The Teacher, as he is actually his real son. However
The Teacher does not want to make this public as he is too cowardly to admit
that he has an illegitimate son. The only person who knows is The Teacher
himself - even Andri does not know. The Teacher feels guilty and wants to
tell the truth, but finds he cannot. He suffers because of his lies and
drinks too much.
In the beginning of the play, Andri is also secretly engaged
to Barblin, who is The Teacher's daughter. Needless to say, they do not
know that they are brother and sister.
Developments in the plotDuring the first six pictures,
Andri tries to realise his dreams. He wants to earn a living as a
carpenter's apprentice; and wants to start a family by marrying Barblin.
The Andorrans prevent him from this however - including his father. The
Carpenter does not want to offer him an apprenticeship, as he doesn't want a Jew
to be working for him as an apprentice. He believes that Jews should (and
want) only to work with money. Because of this, he deliberately demands
too much money for the apprenticeship, but The Teacher pays this exorbitant sum
and The Carpenter is forced to take Andri on. But he reproaches Andri for bad
work, even though he knows that Andri had not done that bit of work. He
then forces him to work in the office instead and to work with money („Das
ist's, was deinesgleichen im Blut hat ... du kannst Geld
verdienen“ )("That is what your sort have in your blood ...
you can earn money" (Third picture)).
That is the earliest of the many examples of stereotypes,
prejudices, rejection and discrimination in the play. Basically, the
Andorrans believe that Jews are greedy, cowardly, unpopular, have no emotions,
and only want to work with money. For example The (pompous, nationalist) Doctor
says „Ich kenne den Jud … das Schlimme am Jud ist sein
Ehrgeiz“ ("I know the Jew ... the worst thing about him is his
ambition" (Fourth Picture))
und „Auch ich habe Juden gerettet, obschon ich sie nicht riechen
kann“ ("Even I have saved Jews, even though I can't stand
them" ). But we see that he is really only jealous because he
himself has had little success: „In allen Ländern der Welt hocken sie auf allen Lehrstühlen“
("In all the countries of the world, they are sitting on all the
[university] chairs" (All these quotes from the
Fourth picture)). The Andorrans make Andri into an
outsider, and then blame him for being different. Because of this
discrimination, Andri begins gradually to doubt himself.
Next Andri asks The Teacher, if he may marry Barblin.
The Teacher is completely surprised and is unable to agree to the
engagement. Andri thinks that even his "adopted" father is just
like all the rest, and that The Teacher is saying that his Jewishness means that
he is not good enough for his daughter. He begins to mistrust his father
as well. Most of the Andorrans openly persecute him, and he begins
to suffer due to the identity that has been imposed upon him. He becomes
more serious, less self-confident, untrusting, reflective and bitter and wants
to leave Andorra. He also gradually assumes the characteristics that
people stereotypically associate with Jews: for instance he saves money, counts
coins and rubs his hands. But it is very important to understand that he
only develops these characteristics because he is persecuted - the Andorrans
have created a self-fulfilling prophecy - a vicious circle of their
"confirmed" prejudices and his helplessness. The Priest wants to help
Andri, but even he has stereotypes of Jews, even when they're more positive such
as ("Juden sind gescheiter" )("Jews are cleverer" )(Seventh
Picture). He refers to these "exceptional"
characteristics, and advises Andri to accept that he is different - but further
stereotypes (even more positive ones) do not help, as he doesn't want to be
different. Andri feels alone and abandoned and a complete outsider.
In this way, The Priest also contributes to his fate. Andri is very sad
and breaks down, an event which would also have been caused by The Soldier (who
is unpleasant and violent) raping Barblin.
The Teacher finally decided to tell the truth, but he is still
a coward. He asks The Priest to speak to Andri, who tries to help Andri -
but it is too late. Andri now feels that he is a Jew, as the constant
reproaches of the Andorrans have forced him to look at himself in order to find
out if he really has these characteristics - and although he doesn't want to
believe it, it is now very clear to him that he is different. His
self-confidence has been destroyed. Andri does not believe The Priest and does
not want to listen („Wieviele Wahrheiten habt
ihr?“ )("How many truths have you got?" )(Ninth
Picture).
He completely identifies himself with the Jewish people, and
has accepted his destiny as a Jewish martyr. He knows that he will die („Ich hab’s angenommen. Jetzt ist es an Euch, Hochwürden, euren Jude
anzunehmen“ )("I have accepted it. Now it is up to you,
Father, to accept your Jew" ) (Ninth Picture).
The EndingUp until now, everybody had been worried that The Blacks would
attack. They all said that Andorra would not be taken over as it is a land
of freedom and human rights („Unsere Waffe ist unsere
Unschuld“ )("Our weapon is our innocence" ).
Nonetheless they are invaded, and everybody surrenders easily by allowing
themselves to be unarmed and not to fight. The soldiers look for
Andri. He is arrested and led away: in the conclusion, a spectacular
"Jew Show" is to take place.
Frisch made the Jew Show deliberately grotesque in order to
show how ridiculous it all is. For instance the "Jew Spotter"
identifies Jews by looking only at their feet - a terrible method to condemn
people. Although such crimes against Jews did take place during the
Nazi period, this method was - of course - not used, but this laughable tactic
makes us think of the more macabre methods that were actually used by the
Nazis. All the citizens of Andorra have to put black cloths over their
heads and walk past the Jew Spotter. The Teacher protests a bit, but in
the end he disguises himself as well. It is awful - some people go in the
wrong direction because they can't see.
Only Barblin has the courage to stand up for Andri by refusing
to walk over the square. She tries to tell everybody that Andri is not a
Jew but her own brother, but the others think only of saving themselves.
The Somebody is initially identified as a Jew, but is able to move along after
The Soldier helps him. Then the Jew Spotter "identifies" Andri
as a Jew, and he is taken away by soldiers. „Man hört nur einen
Schrei“ ("We only hear a cry" ) (Twelfth
Picture), and have to assume that Andri has been
murdered. His shoes remain symbolically on the stage for the remainder of
the play.
In the end, we find
out that The Teacher commits suicide because he believes himself to be
guilty. Barblin, who has had her head shaved as a "Jew's whore",
goes mad. In this way, she too is a victim of anti-Semitism. As at
the very beginning, she whitewashes in order that Andorra can once again become
"as white as snow", since white is the colour of innocence.
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