The German Refugees by Johann von Goethe

Author:Johann von Goethe
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781907650956
Publisher: Dedalus
Published: 2012-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

‘A young man, whom I will call Ferdinand, was a striking example of this. His external appearance recalled both parents, and their temperaments could also be clearly distinguished in his. He had his father’s easygoing and cheerful disposition, as well as his urge to enjoy the moment, and, in certain circumstances, a rather intense way of only taking himself into consideration. From his mother, on the other hand, he appeared to have inherited the ability to reflect on things calmly, a sense of right and justice, and the strength to sacrifice himself for others. From all this one can easily see that those who had to deal with him were often forced, when trying to account for his actions, to take refuge in the hypothesis that the young man must have had a dual nature.

‘I will pass over all kinds of episodes that occurred in his youth and recount just one, which throws light on his whole character and brought about a decisive turning point in his life.

‘From earliest childhood he had enjoyed a lavish style of life. His parents were well-off and lived and brought up their children as befits such people. And if his father spent more than he should drinking with friends, at the gaming tables or on elegant clothes, his mother, as a thrifty housekeeper, was able to limit their everyday expenses so that there was a balance overall and never any shortages. The father enjoyed good fortune as a merchant; many of his bold ventures succeeded and, since he was very sociable, his business affairs profited from his many connections and a not infrequent helping hand.

‘Children naturally strive to develop and generally choose as their model the one in the family who seems to live life to the fullest, with the greatest enjoyment. They take a father who enjoys life as their guiding light, and since they come to this view fairly early on, their wishes and desires mostly grow out of all proportion to the resources of their families. They soon find themselves held back on all sides, especially as every new generation makes different and earlier demands, while the parents are usually only willing to allow their children the things they enjoyed in earlier times, when everyone was happy with more moderate and simpler lives.

‘Ferdinand grew up with the irritating feeling that he often lacked things he saw his friends had. He did not want to be second to anyone in clothing, in a certain liberality of lifestyle and behaviour. He wanted to be like his father, whose example he had daily before him and who played a double role as a model: in the first place as a father, towards whom a son is usually favourably disposed, and then because the boy could see that, living the way he did, the man led a life of enjoyment and pleasure, at the same time being respected and loved by everyone. This led, as you can well imagine, to frequent arguments with his mother,

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