Ulrich Plenzdorf's The New Sufferings Of Young W

In the novel The New Sufferings of Young W. by Ulrich Plenzdorf the reader is presented with a complex character by the name of Edgar Wibeau. Edgar is a very abstract individual who has decided that the strict life he was thrust into by both his mother, and having to live in a boring town in East Germany has placed upon him were not in his future plans. After coming to this realization due to a work related incident, he packs up the belongings he finds most important to him and moves to Berlin. During his time in Berlin is where the reader is presented with the many personas that make up the character that is Edgar. Plenzdorf uses these many personas that he has written into Edgar’s character along with various interests as a way to speak out …show more content…
This misunderstanding is played out through Edgar’s interactions with a love interest by the name of Charlie and her fiance Dieter. Charlie believes that Edgar cannot paint at all, and that he uses excuses to avoid doing what is considered any real kind of artwork. In this context real artwork would be realistic paintings of communist ideologies such as workers in a factory or construction workers. Plenzdorf uses this at odds scenario to critique in a subtle manner what is expected of artists in East Germany by saying that art is art, and that it should not be subject to regulation. Plenzdorf then takes this notion even further when Dieter is introduced to Edgar 's work and has Diter comment negatively. Plenzdorf had written Dieter’s comment in a calculated manner which in short told Edgar that he had all the inspiration around him to paint wonderful and communist approved paintings, but he chose to paint weird abstract art instead. Edgar being the sly and overconfident character that he is quotes a book and uses it to make a quip back which basically states that individuals who are always straight laced such as those who fully partake in communist ideologies and practices never truly see the beauty in things. By having this back and forth with these two characters Plenzdorf subtly critiques how he sees regulation on all forms of art in …show more content…
Edgar’s infatuation with blue jeans is so strong that he outright states that individuals should not be allowed to get old, because when you’re older you fall in line and become a “card-carrying Communist” who doesn’t understand what jeans are about. This is a critique of East German society in two way. The first being that there is an outright statement saying that western clothes are more appealing because they carry a certain attitude that communists will never understand. The second is that after a certain age individuals living in East Germany become too straightlaced, and brainwashed to the point that they lose interest in all things that aren’t approved by the state. Edgar’s other interest is that of music from the west most particularly American Jazz music which he has gone out of his way to get a large collection of. Edgar doesn’t find anything particularly wrong with music that has been approved by the communist regime, but feels that it lacks soul and doesn’t give him the same feelings as Jazz music does. Having this attitude toward music that is approved by the regime is just another way in which Plenzdorf says that the music doesn’t speak to the people, because it has to be censored and only portray certain themes which have been