Söylem Journal of Philology

Abstract

The 20th century novel has developed strongly despite the existent threat of cinema and has ensured that the whole of the novel as a genre is on solid ground since Don Quixote. Especially the names and works that emerged in the first quarter, contributed to this phenomenon in terms of the techniques and themes they dealt with. Bringing new topics together with new narrative techniques contributed to the novel in this respect. One of these topics is the phenomenon of guilt, which has always existed. It is possible to see that the guilt phenomenon is fundamentally problematized in some examples of the 20th century novel, unlike previous periods. 20th century people and their lives have a great share in this reality. In parallel with some examples of the works of Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and James Joyce, it is seen that guilt is problematized in Franz Werfel's novel Class Reunion. In the novel, the subject is a judge who cannot get rid of the different dimensions of the guilt he resorted to in his youth. It is discussed how a figure who is currently working as a judge according to the time of the novel, and who is distant from crime in terms of his position and principles, is kneaded with crime. For this reason, the figure can enter into a state of schizophrenia from time to time. This study examines the guilt theme in Franz Werfel's novel Class Reunion. It questions the state of being distant from and involved in crime. It examines different dimensions of guilt through the figures of Dr. Ernst Sebastian and Franz Adler.