Important works
Stiller
Max Frisch's novel Stiller begins with the arrest of a traveller who claims to be Mr. White, but is recognized as the Zurich sculptor Anatol Ludwig Stiller. He vehemently denies being Stiller and asserts this to the police, the public prosecutor, his defense lawyer, the guard Knobel and also the wife of the missing Stiller, Julika, a former ballet dancer. However, Julika recognizes her husband in him and confronts him with their shared past. She accuses him of cheating on her while she was ill with tuberculosis and leaving her alone in a sanatorium. Despite these accusations, the supposed Stiller insists that this was not his life, and he becomes entangled in adventurous stories about murders in exotic places such as the jungle, Mexico and Texas.
Stiller is the first of Max Frisch's three famous identity novels, published in 1954, and marked his breakthrough as a writer. The novel has resonated worldwide and was included in the ZEIT Library of 100 Books. The narrative structure is particularly striking: the protagonist writes diaries in prison in which he never refers to himself as Stiller, but reports in the third person what others tell him about Stiller. Through this denial of his identity, he paradoxically reveals his true self. Although it becomes increasingly clear that he is indeed Stiller, he refuses to acknowledge this past because he cannot live with the mistakes of his former life.
The novel poses the question of whether it is possible not to define a person by their past, but to view them as a constantly changing individual. This problem becomes particularly clear in his conversation with Julika, who once demanded that he change, but is unable to accept the "new" Stiller herself.
Stiller's identity crisis is still relevant today. In a society that demands perfection and self-optimization, it is increasingly difficult to accept one's own weaknesses and missteps. Failed relationships and bad decisions are increasingly perceived as unacceptable. Stiller thus becomes a projection figure for modern man and the difficulties of self-acceptance. The combination of Stiller's personal conflicts and the exciting stories of the fictional Mr. White make the novel a complex web of truth and fiction that has fascinated generations of readers.