0:01
You wouldn't believe what can go wrong
0:04
during a declaration of love here.
0:07
There’s a man who really came up with
0:10
something, and a woman is probably not
0:13
very happy about it. And from the
0:16
outside, you can almost view it like an
0:18
April Fools 'joke. And we’re just
0:22
going to take a look at that now in the
0:24
short story "Ausgestochen" by Jagoda
0:26
Marinic, with a brilliant final
0:28
sentence that you have to look at
0:30
closely to understand. As always, if at
0:34
all possible, we provide everything at
0:36
a glance, with a link at the end to a
0:39
website where you can look at it in
0:41
more detail. And we’ll just start
0:44
here with the first point. One of the
0:47
most incredible short stories we’ve
0:49
come across. A married couple in a
0:50
café. A well-intentioned conversation
0:52
goes completely wrong. We already
0:54
hinted at that just now. For the reader
0:56
, it feels like an April Fools' joke or
0:58
a hidden camera prank, in case anyone
1:00
still remembers that show. Let’s take
1:03
a look at it. He is gushing about an
1:05
enchanting woman. So that’s this guy
1:08
here. Wait. He’s gushing. She feels
1:12
like nothing next to her. She doesn’t
1:14
really feel addressed by it. We see
1:16
everything through her eyes in the
1:19
story, and the interpretation is likely
1:22
a classic love triangle. This man is
1:25
now confessing to her that he’s met a
1:27
woman he finds incredibly amazing, and
1:29
she thinks, why aren't I that amazing
1:31
too? That doesn’t give you a good
1:34
feeling. And so it’s no wonder when
1:37
the story says: "Every sentence
1:38
tightens her throat." The pain becomes
1:42
physical. You have a complete sense of
1:45
jealousy, unrequited feelings, by the
1:47
way. The two are looking at each other
1:51
the whole time, but they have very
1:53
different thoughts. He beams at her,
1:57
she thinks, he thinks, "As if I’d be
2:02
happy that he’s talking about some
2:04
other woman here and praising her to
2:05
the heavens." We adopt her assumption
2:09
and interpret it as a thoughtless man
2:11
who even tells his wife what he finds
2:13
so especially beautiful about another
2:15
woman. No doubt, a small doubt here,
2:18
but why is he beaming at her of all
2:21
people? And that’s when you realize
2:25
that perhaps she hasn't even fully
2:27
grasped what he might really mean yet.
2:31
Then let’s move on to point 5. She
2:36
asks herself, as we just hinted at,
2:38
where does this woman get her magic
2:41
from? But not her. That’s how it
2:46
should be phrased. Yes, sometimes you
2:48
get a bit puzzled by what you’ve
2:49
written. In any case, it’s about her
2:52
wondering why another woman apparently
2:53
has such magic, but she doesn’t. And
2:56
the solution would have been right here
2:58
, of course. Uh, one could have asked,
3:00
who is he even referring to? Or one
3:03
could have also asked, what about me?
3:05
The interpretation remains jealousy of
3:08
an exaggerated ideal image. That’s
3:10
how the woman sees it. Finally, she has
3:13
had enough. She says, "I never want to
3:16
have to listen to this any longer." She
3:19
packs her bag, gives him a hateful look
3:21
, and leaves. Reader guidance is very
3:24
important in literature. We get the
3:27
feeling it’s the end of a
3:29
relationship. That is where the story
3:31
has brought us. Then comes this implied
3:35
, important, and cleverly constructed
3:38
final sentence. Let's take part one
3:41
first. First, the indignation. I can't
3:44
listen to this any longer. I thought I
3:46
felt for him. I thought we shared
3:50
something, and then—we have to find
3:53
7b now—he just keeps talking about
3:55
her, singing this hymn to this damn
3:58
person I can't compete with anyway. Now
4:02
comes the point of "never" resonating.
4:05
This "never and never" is what she
4:08
feels at the moment. Now it goes even
4:10
further. I hate him. Now I hate him
4:14
with the look I cast at him before I
4:18
get up and leave the café. This is
4:24
interesting because when you look at
4:26
the situation, you might think that if
4:28
someone is treated so poorly, they
4:30
don't want to see the person who caused
4:32
it anymore. That means hardly anyone
4:35
would turn around again. If someone
4:38
does turn around, then perhaps it means
4:40
they are still something to them. And
4:43
that is why 7D comes now. And then the
4:47
"I" says, and knows, he is now looking
4:53
after her and suddenly doesn't
4:55
understand her at all anymore. A very
4:57
clever narrative technique, that she
5:00
suddenly takes an outside position, no
5:02
longer saying "and knows he is now
5:05
looking after me," but "after her"—
5:07
she hasn't fully detached herself from
5:10
this stranger yet. In any case, she
5:13
realizes that he suddenly doesn't
5:15
understand her at all anymore. And this
5:19
"her" is likely the "I" again, which it
5:22
refers back to. So much for the
5:26
explanation of the content. Yes, now
5:29
that we have clarified the course of
5:31
the plot, let’s move into the
5:33
evaluation. An April Fool's joke—it
5:38
could have been one. He, the man,
5:42
didn't dream of playing an April Fool's
5:44
joke on the woman. He really wanted to
5:46
give an original declaration of love
5:48
there. She certainly didn't think of
5:51
that either. She could have perhaps
5:53
thought, "Where is the hidden camera
5:56
here?" Uh, he’s not like that to me
5:58
at all. But that doesn't happen. But
6:02
the reader can imagine a rather
6:04
problematic April Fools 'joke where
6:06
someone suddenly puts the other person
6:09
in a situation where they no longer
6:11
understand the world or, in this case,
6:14
the relationship. That means, if it's
6:17
an April Fools' joke, then only one
6:19
that resolves the situation as it’s
6:21
being told; usually with hidden cameras
6:24
and such, it's kept up until the other
6:26
person almost breaks down, or they
6:28
figure it out and then it’s resolved.
6:31
In this relationship story, it’s
6:33
relatively unrealistic that someone
6:36
wouldn't notice for so long how their
6:38
own wife is looking at them in complete
6:41
horror, and then, uh, there's more of a
6:44
laugh, uh, where one might say: "Well,
6:47
you see, I wanted to do something
6:49
original and I hope you appreciate that
6:52
," and perhaps a humorous remark from
6:54
one of the two. Man, that was a close
6:58
one. Let's move on to point C, to the
7:02
conclusion. A wonderful story, but only
7:08
as a story, please not in reality. We
7:11
have already hinted at that. For that,
7:14
it’s also a bit long, as we just
7:15
hinted at, and it also seems a bit
7:17
contrived. In reality, that’s
7:19
probably not how it would play out. But
7:21
the beauty of literature is that it’s
7:24
allowed to simply play such things
7:26
through. And it's not about reality
7:29
anyway, but about guiding the reader.
7:32
What does this story do to us? It leads
7:36
us into a certain understanding and in
7:38
the end, it’s turned around and
7:40
resolved almost like a joke. even if
7:43
that was certainly no joke for this
7:44
woman and, of course, not for the man
7:46
either. As always, we are posting the
7:49
entire documentation here on this page.
7:51
Corrections, additions, and answers can
7:53
be found there. We are, of course, also
7:55
happy if someone has a different
7:57
opinion and points it out to us
7:59
accordingly. That’s the only way we
8:01
can move forward, and we will place a
8:03
button here in the top right corner so
8:05
that you can get to this page quickly.
8:08
We hope it was interesting to follow
8:11
this train of thought, this narrative
8:14
step, and we wish you, for any kind of
8:17
declaration of love, the right touch,
8:20
maximum success, and perhaps an
8:23
occasional sigh of relief followed by
8:26
the corresponding hug. Good luck. M.
