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(2) The main themes of Andorra

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• Images and Stereotypes

• Responsibility

• The symbolism of the country Andorra itself

In this part, I am going to explain what the author wanted the play to say to us.  Of course Max Frisch wanted to make a stand against prejudices and discrimination, but he also had more specific ideas.  The two main themes are that we should not make "images" of other people (i.e. we should not have stereotypes or prejudices about them); and also that people should accept the responsibility for such occurrences (especially those that took place during the Nazi period and the Second World War, though the play could be applied to any situation).  In this respect, he wants to criticise Switzerland in particular.

Images and Stereotypes

There is, of course, the important lesson that anti-Semitism (as with any other type of persecution) has no justification: it is pure prejudice and can only destroy peoples' lives by forcing innocent people to doubt themselves and to become outsiders (such as Andri - even though he is not a Jew). Yet Max Frisch also wants us to think about this on a larger scale - that we should not make "images" of other people.  The Andorrans believe that they know what Andri is like.  When they see him, they only see their image of a Jew - and this image is made up of only stereotypes and prejudices.  They see the "typical Jew" in Andri, and treat him according to this preconceived picture.  They don't see want he is really like, and so in the end they are the cause of his death.

This theme is one of the most important morals of the play.  It is said in the Bible "You should make no images of God".  Indeed this is the Second Commandment.  Max Frisch believes that this also goes for "God as the living part of every person; that which is not ascertainable": the soul.  In other words, we should live and let live.

These images have terrible consequences, because Andri changes a lot because of them.  At the beginning of the play he is a normal, cheerful young man who wants to be a carpenter.  But the Andorrans have made their image of Andri as a Jew.  The constantly persecute him, impose their expectations and behaviours on to him, and treat him unfairly by not allowing him to be the person that he really is.  They force him into a set role, so that he eventually begins to "take on" these characteristics under the pressure of the stereotypes that are being forced onto him.  They do not want to see and so they cannot see.  For instance in the beginning, The Carpenter thinks that Jews only want to work with money (even though Andri really wants to be a carpenter).  Yet in the seventh scene, we see that Andri has begun to save money and say "I must become rich".  He also begins to take on other characteristics that are stereotypically associated with Hews, such as rubbing his hands.  His personality is affected in a negative way.  He becomes bitter and believes that nobody likes him - even The Teacher, who doesn't let Andri marry Barblin (even though this is really because The Teacher knows that they are brother and sister).

It is true that it is only human to have stereotypes, but Max Frisch is trying to say that they are dangerous - especially when people take their stereotypes and let them affect how they treat others (such as when the Andorrans persecute Andri).  He believes that we must correct our stereotypes through contact.

Responsibility

Andorra concerns itself with anti-Semitism, but it shows how all prejudices are stupid and inhumane and how they can all have dangerous consequences.  It also makes us think about the responsibility of an individual when it comes to the fate of misunderstood minorities.  We have to ask "who is responsible?"

This theme of responsibility is important because we don't have to actively do something in order to be responsible.  For instance in Der andorranische Jude (Max Frisch's sketch of the plot of Andorra), it says „die meisten Andorraner taten ihm nichts. Also auch nichts Gutes“ ("Most of the Andorrans didn't do anything to him.  So therefore also nothing that was good").  We are also responsible when we let something happen, as if we don't protest against unfairness and remain a passive onlooker, we are also taking part.

In the foreground scenes that come between the pictures, all of the characters make a so-called "confession" in a so-called witness box.  It may be called a confession, but with the exception of The Priest, all the Andorrans only protest their innocence in the outcome of the story.  But The Priest says „auch ich bin schuldig geworden damals… auch ich habe mir ein Bildnis gemacht von ihm… auch ich habe ihn an den Pfahl gebracht“ ("I too was guilty then ... I too had made an image of him ... I too brought him to the stake").  With this repeated "I too", he expresses that beside his own guilt there is also the collective guilt of the Andorrans, for it was their thoughts, words and deeds that produced the image of the Jew.

The other Andorrans all have their excuses as to why they personally have no responsibility.  But these only show us their stupidity and indifference.  Nobody reflects on his behaviour, cowardice or prejudice; instead they seem unwilling to look into the past.  In no way do they want to accept any of the responsibility for Andri's death, and (worse) they don't even seem to regret their behaviour. For instance The Landlord said he could „nicht wissen können“ ("not have known"); and The Carpenter that everything happened "later". The Apprentice believes that „es lag halt auch an ihm, sonst wär's nie so gekommen“ ("It was all due to him, otherwise it would never have happened like that") and The Landlord says later that he believed that Andri„macht die Leute rein nervös“ ("Just makes people nervous"). The Soldier says that nobody knew „dass er keiner war“ ("That he was not one"), whilst he himself had „nur seinen Dienst getan“ ("only done his duty"). „Order ist Order. Ich war Soldat“ ("Order is order.  I was a soldier") he says.  We must remember that he betrayed Andri, and organised the Jew Show and actively helped the Jew Spotter to "identify" Andri.  The pompous Doctor says that he had „nie an Mißhandlungen teilgenommen“ ("never taken part in mistreatment"), which is a complete lie.  He also says that „sein [d.h. Andris] Benehmen (was man leider nicht verschweigen kann) mehr und mehr … etwas Jüdisches hatte“ ("His [i.e. Andri's] behaviour (which we unfortunately cannot keep silent about) had increasingly something Jewish about it").  He believes that that is an excuse, but we know that it was a result of his own actions.  The Andorrans also had other motives: The Landlord got a scapegoat for his crime; The Soldier wanted to have Barblin.

Perhaps the opinion that best expresses that of most people after the war is that of The Somebody.  He says „Nichts ist erwiesen worden“ ("Nothing has been proved") und „Einmal muss man auch vergessen können, finde ich“ ("We should also be able to forget, I find"). He wants to have his peace and quiet, and so represents all of those people who tolerate such violence, or just don't want to see it, watch it dumbly, or are just apathetic.  The individual also has a role - you can not just let something take place.  When just one person resists they may not be able to achieve much, but when everybody who believed that what had happened to Andri was not fair had done something (like Barblin), it would have ended differently.  We must though of course remember that during the Nazi period, that would not have been easy because of the propaganda.

These excuses reflect those of the soldiers and Germans after the war (for instance many people believed because of the propaganda that the Jews themselves were guilty; the soldiers said that they were only obeying orders etc).

Except for The Teacher (who knows that Andri is not really a Jew), Barblin is the only person who does not make an image of Andri and does not judge him.  This is because she loves him (first as his girlfriend, but as soon as she finds out he is her brother, her love turns into sisterly love).  With this, Max Frisch wants to say that the only way that stereotypes can be broken down is through love, by treating every individual as an individual and letting them develop freely („Ausgenommen, wenn wir lieben“) ("Except when we love") (last line of Der andorranische Jude). But it must be said that this is quite a simple and idealistic idea.  We could not have fought Hitler with love.  Instead we also need to use other measures like Education and Laws.

I think that although all the characters think that they are innocent, we can see (by their embarrassing and lame excuses) that in reality everybody except Andri himself and Barblin has a share of the responsibility.  Especially The Soldier because he must have known exactly what the consequences of his actions would have been, even if he was ordered to do them.  Of course we must bear in mind that if The Teacher had not lied, and had had the courage to tell the truth later, nothing at all would have happened.  The Teacher does not make a confession, but his excuse is that „die Lüge ist ein Egel, sie hat die Wahrheit ausgesaugt“ ("The lie is a leech that sucks out the truth") (Fifth picture). The difference is that he knows that his excuse is not a good one, and he knows that he is responsible.  At the end he tries to atone by committing suicide.

It is very easy to be judgmental.  Not all (indeed hardly any) of the German population could have been described as evil during the war; instead they were just influenced by Hitler and his propaganda.  Although most people would not want to admit it, it is likely that if Hitler had been British, something similar could have happened here.  Nobody wants to believe that they would take part in such atrocities - but perhaps almost everybody would have done the same if they were in the Third Reich with all the propaganda and the violence and the dictatorship.  Like The Doctor in Andorra said, it was in those days „eine aufgeregte Zeit“ ("a confusing period"). For this reason we should not condemn the German people of the Nazi period strongly.  But they (like the Andorrans) do still bear responsibility.

Yet although The Teacher obviously carries much of the responsibility, Max Frisch has portrayed him sympathetically.  The author does not want us to condemn him too harshly because he is just a character in the play: he does not symbolise any of the people who took part in the war.  In contrast he has portrayed The Soldier as an unfeeling animal who rapes Barblin. It is very hard to have any sympathy for either him, or The pompous Doctor (in comparison to others like The Landlord or The Somebody who, although obviously guilty, have hardly any personality). This may perhaps have been because Max Frisch himself believed that the soldiers and intellectuals who supported the Nazis do carry most of the responsibility.

The symbolism of the country Andorra itself

It is not just the characters who symbolise something, rather also the country of Andorra itself.  The Andorrans believe that they are innocent, but also that their country itself is "snow white".  For instance The Doctor says „Kein Vaterland in der Welt hat einen schöneren Namen und kein Volk auf Erde ist so frei“ ("No fatherland has a nicer name and no people in the world are so free") (Fourth picture). In this respect Max Frisch his criticising his own home country, Switzerland, for Switzerland is a neutral country and is proud of its freedom and independence and has always said it has no history of persecution or anti-Semitism.

But in the last few years, Swiss deeds have been uncovered.  For instance in the Second World War the Swiss turned an eye and did not protest about the atrocities.  An example is that it is thought that the Swiss border police asked the Nazis to stamp a "J" in Jewish passports so that they could be identified, and in 1942 they refused entry to 42000 Jewish refugees.  Since 1997 there has also been the scandal of the Swiss banks who hoarded gold of Jews and Nazis.  Now they have begun to accept their responsibility by setting up a fund of 17 million Swiss Francs to compensate Jews, and they are trying to return plundered goods to their owners.  They have also officially apologised.

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