Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral

The anecdote to reduce the work ethic is a story by Heinrich Böll. He wrote for a show with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk for " Labor Day " on May 1, 1963.

Summary

In the anecdote to lower the morale of Heinrich Böll from 1963 is about a tourists and a fisherman who get into a conversation and their different views on work ethic and attitude exchange.

In a port on the west coast of Europe is sleeping a poorly dressed fishermen and is awakened by the click of the camera of a tourist. Subsequently, the tourist asks the fisherman why he was not as out to sea and fish. Today however was such a great day to make a good catch, there are many out there fish. Then the fisherman is no answer, the tourist thinks the fishermen go there not good, and asks him about his being, but the fishing has nothing to complain about. The tourist hooked again and asks the fisherman again why he did not go out because. Well replied the fisherman, he had already been out and have almost caught that there are still rich him for the next few days. The tourist replied that the fishermen still two, three or even four times and then go out a small business could build, then a larger company and this growth could go on and eventually increase until it would deliver their products abroad with his fish. After that, the fishermen would have earned enough to just sit by the harbor and relax calm can. The fisherman replied calmly, sitting at the port and he could relax but now already. Then the tourist goes on thoughtful and a little envious.

Historical context

Located in the German economic boom, plus Labor Day, Böll provokes his readers by questioning their newly conquered values ​​and her newly -won self-awareness. The tourist embodied in the beginning of the story the ideal type of time: success allows him education and travel, a patronizing occurrence. That he can take a holiday abroad, it seems to be self result obtained successful result of economic activity, to the carefree " laziness " of the fisherman makes a contrast which irritates the tourists from the beginning. The narrative represents the poorly dressed fisherman in a contrast to the send tourists. But even though the traveler seems within the meaning of the economic miracle first take the winners perspective ( he is the active and thus dominant), it acts from the beginning nervous and unsure of his outwardly humble interlocutor.

There are different values ​​of the economic miracle that come to the attention of the böllschen irony, not just by materialism, especially the hectic activity, the rest only treat yourself if it appears to be justified by a work- filled life. The attitude of the fisherman, however, seems almost as an anticipation of the post-materialist attitude that spread to the economic miracle in the leading industrial countries of Europe. According to this attitude of the person working to live and not live to work.