Trash professor

Author: Man
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-01-01
Features: The protagonist of the novel is a teacher at a humanities secondary school named Raat, who is a professor (at that time, secondary school teachers in Germany could also hold the title of professor). He should be called Professor Raat, but people call him the "Trash Professor." Why? It is due to his behavior throughout his life. The novel depicts the life and actions of the Trash Professor. The story takes place in a northern German port city in the late 19th century.
The Trash Professor is a tyrant at his school, and his teaching style is always antagonistic toward his students. He believes that students are objects to be disciplined, and their inherent nature is willful, unruly, and ungrateful. Their playful behavior is no different from decadence; their carelessness and laughter are acts of rebellion against state power; any "deviant" behavior of theirs can lead to a riot, which is no different from a "mob uprising." He is harsh and cruel to his students, often making baseless troubles and locking them up as a habit. Unbeknownst to him, a courtesan named Rosa Fr?hlich appeared in this port city, a woman who had suffered countless insults and injuries. The Trash Professor was terrified that his students would get involved with this courtesan, so he went to great lengths to track them down and search for the courtesan, causing many ridiculous and laughable incidents. However, he soon discovered that his students had not engaged in any illicit relationship with her, while he himself had become her lover, even marrying her.
Once this scandal broke, he was truly dubbed the "Moral Trash." Naturally, the school authorities dismissed him from his position. After the Trash Professor's false mask of "upholding moral standards" was torn away, he completely changed his behavior, openly appearing as the "Moral Trash," using the courtesan Rosa Fr?hlich as a powerful tool in his hands. Together, they conspired and spread moral corruption. They opened a gambling den, turned their residence into a brothel, and willingly wore the shame of infidelity, turning the small port city into a place of chaos. The people of the city, from the social elite to the common folk, including his former students, were all struck with a sense of despair due to the gambling den and brothel. Numerous people went bankrupt or even committed suicide. The Trash Professor, however, felt no shame but instead took pride in it. His paranoia and desire for revenge reached an extreme.
In the end, when his last "nemesis"—his student Lohmann—was with his wife, he lost his mind completely. He roughly snatched Lohmann's wallet and attempted to strangle the courtesan Rosa Fr?hlich, thereby breaking the law and being sentenced to prison. Another of his students, Kieselack, witnessed this scene and mockingly said, "At last, a truckload of trash has been removed."
The novel powerfully criticizes the harm the German Empire's education system inflicted on young people and deeply exposes the hypocrisy of bourgeois morality. Those "social elites" are nothing more than representatives of "moral standards" on their lips and "male theft and female prostitution" in their hearts. The editor's preface is well-structured, the language is vivid, and the book is highly readable. It is worth reading for German learners.