Wolfgang Borchert’s Die Küchenuhr

Born in Hamburg on 20 May 1921, Wolfgang Borchert succumbed to his steadily deteriorating condition in Basel on 20 November, 1947. 1 Written between the fall of 1946 and the summer of the following year, »Die Küchenuhr« was published on June 27, 1947, 2 less than six months before Borchert's death.It belongs to a collection of nineteen stories, dedicated to his father and entitled »An diesem Dienstag.« 3At first glance it may only rate as a slip of a story.Nevertheless, its scant three pages belie the text's masterful strokes and their lasting impact.Their message is clear.Coping with injury, particularly significant injury, can be facilitated by means of a double-pronged approach.First, the severity of the loss should be acknowledged and subsequently the particulars of life before its occurrence should be visualized.In Borchert's characteristic straightforward manner, the title already announces the narrative's primary focus.When your days are numbered, you hasten to make your point.Or as Heinrich Böll observed: »Zwei Jahre blieben ihm zum Schreiben, und er schrieb in diesen beiden Jahren, wie jemand im Wettlauf mit dem Tode schreibt.Wolfgang Borchert hatte keine Zeit, und er wußte es.« 4 Furthermore, the kitchen clock and its pronoun are mentioned eight and 19 times respectively.Though critics tend to attribute this frequency to Borchert's predilection for repetition, it means so much more.At the outset of the interpretation, some contextualizing remarks may be in order.