67 pages • 2 hours read
Kairos
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Character Analysis
Katharina
Katharina is one of the protagonists of Kairos. The novel is partly told from her perspective, though it occasionally shifts into that of her romantic interest, Hans. When the novel begins, Katharina is a 19-year-old typesetter for the state publishing company. She has artistic inclinations, but initially pursues a career in commercial design. Hans’s influence causes her to shift to graphic art, and she applies for and receives an internship in stage design before entering art school. The prologue, intermezzo, and epilogue sections find Katharina when she is older, presumably in her forties or fifties because she uses YouTube clips of Hans’s favorite music to commemorate him after he dies. These sections frame the narrative as something Katharina only understands in retrospect, which resonates with the novel’s ideas about memory, identity, and history.
The character of Katharina is defined by her youthful naivety, which she overcomes through growth and maturity over the course of the narrative. Part of her naivety stems from her insulation within East Germany and the Soviet Bloc. When she visits her relatives in West Germany, she experiences the culture shock of life in a capitalist society, which is wholly at odds with the one she has lived with all her life. Although her sophistication is expressed through her love of classical music, it is suggested that the culture of repression in East Germany has resulted in her lack of knowledge about the country during Hans’s youth. This in turn makes her curious to learn more from and about him. She is impressionable and eager to transform herself to accommodate his desires, as evidenced by her desire to become more sexually adventurous after she visits a sex shop for the first time. This character trait extends to her relationship with Hans, where she initially convinces herself that his brutal tactics during her cross-examination are performed out of goodwill and an intention to strengthen their bond.
Katharina grows in independence as she gets older. After a brief period of cohabitation with Hans, she moves out of the apartment she grew up in with her mother, Erika, and her stepfather, Ralph. She gets her own place and subsequently pursues her internship in Frankfurt, where her sexual agency grows. As her relationship with Hans turns long-distance, they begin to grow apart, leading Katharina to seek companionship in one of her colleagues, Vadim.
Katharina’s reaction to the collapse of East Germany is representative of her generation’s conflicting attitudes around the encroachment of capitalism into the country. Due to the influence of Hans, who represents his generation’s idealistic faith in the socialist system, she resists the allure of money and purchasing power. Once she sees her friends rationalizing their participation in the capitalist economy as an exploitation of private ownership, however, she relents and uses her newfound freedoms to indulge her penchant for travel. This in turn expands her independence from Hans, who resigns himself to the fall of East Germany.
Hans
Hans is the second protagonist of Kairos. Inasmuch as the novel is the story of Katharina’s coming of age and growing independence, it is also the story of Hans’s reflection on the nation’s history and the life he has lived. Hans represents his generation as a counterpoint to Katharina’s own. Not only do their generations bookend the history of East Germany, but they also hint at the factors that led to its failure.
Hans grew up in the shadow of Nazi Germany. His backstory reveals that he moved to East Germany to rebel against his father, who ardently espoused the fascist values he taught during World War II. Hans sees himself as the antithesis of his father. Where his father tried to shield Hans from the knowledge of the Holocaust, Hans is deeply committed to sharing history with those around him. This goes unappreciated by his teenage son Ludwig and his wife Ingrid, who bicker with him about his interpretations of the world. Stung by what he perceives as their lack of appreciation, he enters a series of affairs with other women, believing that they can supply the emotional needs that his family cannot. This includes his affair with Katharina, who not only meets his sexual needs, but also indulges his thoughts and remembrances with her curiosity. He is reluctant to divorce Ingrid and leave his family behind, however, partly because she supplies other needs that Katharina cannot, such as her management of his expenses. He finds that he cannot choose which of those needs he values more.
Hans’s willingness to look back on the past also drives him to consider his complicity in the collapse of East Germany. Hans works publicly as a novelist and a freelance radio scriptwriter. In secret, he serves as an unofficial collaborator of the Stasi, the secret police of East Germany. Because of his fidelity to socialist values and their embodiment in the state, he willingly agrees to work with the Stasi, believing that all East Germans should cooperate with the socialist government and that any dissent is counterrevolutionary. Over time, his repeated collaborations result in the eradication of his generation of culture workers. Hans frequently conjures sordid histories for the culture workers who were persecuted—and in some cases, executed—by the state, even though their reputations were rehabilitated years later. Hans is never identified as being directly responsible for the persecution of a particular artist, though he shows particular remorse when recalling the expatriation of musician Wolf Biermann.
Hans’s beliefs and collaboration with the Stasi inform his treatment of Katharina after the discovery of her infidelity with Vadim. He eschews written correspondence, turning to recorded cassette tapes to criticize her character. Effectively, this method allows him to inflict psychological torture on Katharina, causing her to doubt her integrity to the point of suicidal ideation. Katharina later realizes, however, that Hans’s methods of cross-examination expose his weakness and desperation. As Katharina distances herself from Hans, Hans’s grip on her loosens. His last interactions with Katharina thus echo that desperation, which she rejects.
Rosa
Rosa is a secondary romantic interest of Katharina’s. They meet as classmates in art school, where Katharina is drawn to Rosa by her immense beauty. Even though he reacts with fury to Katharina’s tryst with Vadim, he accepts her relationship with Rosa because he does not see Rosa as a threat to his desire to father Katharina’s child.
Rosa is depicted as a sensitive character. She can easily register Katharina’s feelings, which allows Katharina to confide in her about her dilemmas with Hans. In one scene, Katharina laments that Hans’s cruel treatment of her has eradicated her awareness of her desires. Rosa helps her to see that this isn’t true by reminding her of their shared affections. Rosa also dispels Katharina’s notion that a relationship can fully reveal two partners to each other. She stresses the need for compatibility in spite of mystery, which marks a quiet turning point in Katharina’s perception of Hans.
Rosa ultimately leaves Katharina when she senses that Katharina does not want to bring her deeper into her life. Katharina fails to introduce Rosa to her family, giving the impression that she is embarrassed of her. Following their breakup, Rosa goes on to date another mutual friend of theirs.
Ingrid
Ingrid is the wife of Hans, with whom her relationship is a constant struggle for power. They regularly quarrel, much to the annoyance of their teenage son, Ludwig. Their arguments normally consist of Ingrid’s attempts to undermine something Hans has said, which he tries to assert.
Hans frequently cheats on Ingrid, suggesting that he abuses the power he holds over her as her husband. However, Hans’s affair with Katharina exposes that Hans has little real power in their relationship. When Ingrid throws him out, Hans realizes just how much he relies on Ingrid to look after him. She manages their household finances and even lays out the clothes he wears from day-to-day. Katharina attempts to fulfill these roles when she and Hans briefly live together, but Hans cannot bring himself to fully commit to divorcing Ingrid. On these terms, Ingrid is able to affect the conditions of Hans’s relationship with Katharina. Katharina is annoyed that Hans will not leave his family, and Hans ultimately relents to Ingrid’s power over him, returning to his family.
At the end of the novel, Ingrid is swept up in the political atmosphere of the collapse of East Germany. To Ingrid’s chagrin, Hans is resigned to the events taking place, knowing that he had sown the seeds of the state’s collapse with his Stasi collaboration many years earlier. This gives Ingrid a sense of freedom as she disabuses herself of the notion that she and Hans will ever see eye to eye. It is suggested that Ingrid is the woman who brings Katharina the two boxes of memorabilia documenting her affair with Hans.
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