Book Review: "Michael Kohlhaas" by Heinrich von Kleist

In a world rattled by corruption, there are a few things that a protagonist may choose. The most popular theme in this kind of literature is probably the redemption figure - the character who seems to absolve themselves of wrongdoings in their life and then dies in an almost heroic fashion. These characters include but are not limited to: Jean Valjean in Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, the Kuragin siblings from War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy and Paul from All Quiet on the Western Front (who we all know is something of a morally questionable character at times, come on people).

In the book Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist, we get a taste of this in a different way. We, the readers, are left with the decision over whether this man is a freedom fighter in the sense of a hero of the time, or whether he is an early Robespierre-style man that inflicts terror on a regime that is trying their best with what they have. I seriously think that in order to understand this book, you have to understand both sides of the argument: the government and the motives of Michael Kohlhaas.

Based on a true story, this book starts with a horse dealer who must give his two horses as collateral to an increasingly corrupt government who rules by classism and nepotism. Both of which are things that are cause for revolution. He goes to get his horses back only to find they are being mistreated and beaten, made to work long hours in fields and, he is getting progressively angrier about it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but a government that relies mostly on corruption would impact people more than horses and so, I think this anger is slightly misplaced. I believe that if Kohlhaas had to hand over physical people or witnessed this happening with actual humans, the anger would have been easier to understand.

Kohlhaas then tries to demand for the rehabilitation of the horses be paid for by the official who did this to them - and again, he is unsuccessful in doing so. This is where Kohlhaas begins some sort of war in private against the government who stole his horses. Relative to Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta, but with slightly better motives behind it.

Through gathering an army and travelling, Kohlhaas remains a prisoner to his own mind and the government system - he flounders between not wanting to go to prison (which he eventually does) and wanting to have the redemptive hero's death if he must. He expresses these views but they are both counterproductive when he, yet again, fails in his attempts to create this war. He starts to rely on more illegal methods such as blackmail in order to try and get his way and news of this actually reaches the Kaiser.

Though the ending is a little bit quick for my tastes, I think it does the job for this strange character redemption arc in which we know that this character is trying to do the best he can for his people and for his horses, but the one thing that we like the most about him is that when he is placed in the one situation he does not want to be in, he does not panic but simply takes it as it comes.

All in all, I found this book to be a little blandly written but on the whole a great and insightful short read. A book that if it teaches us one thing it is to never give up in our revolutions however big or small they may be.