Totentraum

The story

A Turkish immigrant worker has died 1965. The preparation of the body is contrasted with a letter written by his wife in Turkey, which describes the situation and expectations of his family in the homeland. The presentation creates the atmosphere of a parable in which the parting of immigrant worker from his homeland is described, but which could just as well be his return home, as a corpse. The story revolves around the ambivalence of parting and the divergence between the actual events of life and the expectancy and hopes one has of this life. This is shown through the comparison between the hard fact of the immigrant's death and his wife's hopeful expectations of him and his successful return.