63 pages • 2-hour read
Fatherland
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, religious discrimination, antigay bias, and racism.
Fascism’s Tendency to Breed Corruption
The alternative world of the novel explores an extreme example of fascism and authoritarian government. Although this version of Germany never existed, it lends insight into the dangers that exist within a nation that values xenophobia and demands unquestioning allegiance.
In the novel’s world, crime is rampant in Berlin and throughout Germany. March remarks on how common it is to find a body in Lake Havel, while noting how solving murder has become a central part of his job. As he stands before the map of Berlin, he notes how it “glows crimson” (16) from all the police stations littered throughout the country. Thus, the novel presents Nazi Germany as a police state. Either its people are filled with discord and discontent, or the SS feels the need to control every aspect of their lives; some combination of the two is likely.
The corruption within the police force confirms how violence, lies, and deceit can dominate a fascist state. Every person March encounters is, to some degree, corrupt in their own right. Although he’s trying to solve the murder of three men, he acknowledges that these men stole valuable art and sold it to gain wealth throughout World War II. The men he seeks help from (Koth in the crime lab, Halder in the Reichsarchiv, Friedman in airport security) use their positions for personal gain, breaking the rules for March because of a former friendship or past debt. Similarly, the few people that help March (including Jaeger, Krebs, and Nebe) later betray him. This reinforces the idea that corruption to benefit those in charge is a common effect of a fascist state. The group in power demands dedication and loyalty, breeding corruption in those who give it.
Through Pili, the novel shows how the fascist government establishes allegiance and dedication via propaganda and indoctrination of the most impressionable: children. As March resists joining the Nazi Party and privately scoffs at those who publicly swear their allegiance, his son becomes committed to the Party at age 10 and turns against his father, even tricking him into being captured. In a nation overrun with crime, citizens turn toward the only thing that can protect them (the Nazi Party), learning to use that corruption or suffer at its hands.
In the world of Fatherland, antigay bias, racism, antisemitism, and hate as commonplace. Restrictive, racist laws and the elimination of rights for citizens who do not meet the genetic requirements of the state are mentioned throughout the novel in passing, emphasizing their normalcy. Instead of presenting these atrocities as horrific or shocking, they’re instead presented as mundane, underscoring the effectiveness of fascist control in enforcing bias. Although this world is extreme, it nonetheless highlights the dangers of a nation that limits individual rights while forcing compliance and obedience.
The Dissolution of Objective Truth
At the center of Fatherland is a fact that threatens to disrupt Germany’s status as a world superpower after the fictionalized ending of World War II. March is surrounded by people desperate to hide that truth to maintain power and control. Even though the Final Solution involved the deaths of millions of Jewish people, the fear and corruption that the Nazi Party instilled has allowed them to hide it from the world for nearly two decades, emphasizing how those in power have taken extreme measures to hide and discredit even objective truth.
March’s internal conflict when he discovers the information about the Final Solution exemplifies this theme. He struggles greatly with the information, spending hours reading and rereading Luther’s document. Ironically, March and the rest of the world were unaware of (or unwilling to acknowledge) the shocking deaths of millions of people. March’s struggle to grasp what he’s reading reinforces the idea that propaganda, lies, and corruption have buried historical truth. Once he has the information, March acknowledges to himself that he struggles to even believe it. As Globus taunts him, “‘They’re just names, March. There’s nothing there anymore, not even a brick. Nobody will ever believe it. And shall I tell you something? Part of you can’t believe it either.’ Globus spat in his face—a gobbet of grayish-yellow phlegm. ‘That’s how much the world will care’” (317). The truth in this statement haunts March throughout the novel, as he admits that the Final Solution is almost too horrifying to believe. His desperate search to uncover the bricks from Auschwitz as his last act emphasize the extent to which the Nazi Party’s lies and corruption have obscured objective truth.
The solution that the novel presents to the erosion of truth comes through Charlie’s character. As she leaves Berlin to try to escape to Switzerland, she and March discuss whether anyone will believe the truth when she shows them. Even if they do, she and March fear that the US, which is implicated in some of the documents and values its improving relationship with Germany, will refuse to publicize the information or even discredit it. However, Charlie assures March that she’ll find a newspaper that will publish the information. In this way, media becomes a possible means to fight corruption and lies, exposing their perpetrators and revealing the objective truth. Even without the backing of the US, Charlie hopes that making the information public through her newspaper will begin the steps necessary to sway public opinion toward the truth.
Although Fatherland depicts a fictional world, its exploration of historical truth holds value in today’s world. Negative discourse surrounding media and the questioning of documented fact threaten to erode established truths, paving the way for manipulation and corruption. Even though the novel leaves the ending unclear, it establishes hope that Charlie and, by extension, the media, will spread the truth enough to create change.
The Value of Individual Responsibility in Fighting Corruption
In today’s court of law, one possible defense against a crime, especially for military or police personnel, is the “Nuremburg defense.” This defense takes its name from the Nuremburg Trials after World War II, which held members of Germany’s Nazi Party accountable for the atrocities they committed during the war. Those on trial in Nuremburg attempted to escape punishment by blaming their superiors, insisting that they were only following the orders of Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, and others. This idea permeates Fatherland, as the individuals March encounters help him while simultaneously remaining loyal to the Nazi Party and its corruption.
Exemplifying this dynamic are the people who initially help March but then betray him, choosing instead to remain loyal to the SS. After Globus arrests March, he’s told that the surgeon at the morgue (Eisler), the head of airport security (Friedman), his own son and ex-wife (Pili and Klara), and, as he learns in the car, his partner (Jaeger) all betrayed him and gave the SS information to have him arrested. Jaeger articulates this betrayal best when he argues, “Globocnik is a police general, for God’s sake. If he tells you ‘Jaeger! Look the other way!’—you look the other way, right? I mean, that’s the law, isn’t it? […] We’re not all made to be heroes, Zavi” (331). Although the SS is technically “the law,” Jaeger and the others refuse to acknowledge the corruption they’re enabling or, by extension, the value in March’s actions. Instead, they insist that they’re doing what they must do by following orders. This reinforces March’s courage in taking responsibility for the corruption he sees and standing up for what’s right, regardless of the consequences. The change that March makes, as he realizes that he can no longer ignore the atrocities around him, makes his actions heroic. What Jaeger tells March is understandable in one sense, as he fears for his life and those of his family; however, his words reinforce the idea that individual courage is necessary to overcome a corrupt system.
Despite everything that March and Charlie face, the novel’s final pages reinforce the value of their standing up against Germany’s police state. Although March likely dies, his words emphasize his hope for Charlie’s success. Because they took responsibility for the atrocities they witnessed (despite the dangers involved), the world may finally know the truth and enact change.
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