Amerika: The Missing Person

The connection between Karl’s family and shame is captured in his paranoia over losing his suitcase. The suitcase is Karl’s only keepsake from Prague, symbolizing his connection to a past “ever-receding” (21) from his memory. Karl’s paranoia causes him constant unrest. On the Hamburg-America line, he watched his roommate every night to ensure they did not steal from him. When Mr. Green gives Karl his suitcase after announcing his second exile, the latter obsessively checks it. When Karl arrives at the Hotel Occidental and The Head Cook gives him a private room, he feels more “secure” (91), partially because he knows his suitcase is safe.

After leaving Pollunder’s estate, Karl finds two strangers already asleep in his room at a temporary shelter—and becomes paranoid about them stealing his suitcase. He vows to guard his keepsake despite his need for sleep. In a moment of irony, Delamarche and Robinson do not steal his suitcase, but they do take his suit to sell—which he gives willingly. Later on, the suitcase—specifically, the loss of Karl’s cherished photograph—causes a fight that breaks up the trio.

The suitcase represents Karl’s attachment to his identity as a German and his desire to resist assimilating to American society.