The Appointment (1997) is a historical novel by Herta Müller. In the book, a young woman must come to terms with the various disappointments, betrayals, and humiliations that she has endured under Ceausescu’s totalitarian political regime. Critics believe this book confirms Müller’s status as one of Europe’s best fiction writers, and reviewers comment on how well it depicts the intimacies of daily life. Müller is a Nobel Prize-winning Romanian novelist. Before writing books, she worked as a translator for a European engineering company and taught German to kindergarten students. The Appointment takes place in Romania during the country’s last communist regime under Nicolae Ceausescu. It’s a terrifying time during which even minor infractions against the government are punished severely. No one has any individual freedom or power, and citizens live in constant fear of imprisonment or execution. One such person is The Appointment’s main character, a nameless factory seamstress. Müller deliberately leaves her nameless to illustrate that individualism is non-existent under Ceausescu’s police state. She is married to Paul, an alcoholic who doesn’t treat her well. At the start of the book, the narrator is on her way to an interrogation with Major Albu, an officer with the secret police. She knows what she has done wrong: She has been questioned for the same offense before, but that doesn’t mean she’s any less afraid. She is guilty of sewing notes into 10 white suits destined for Italy. The notes contain her name and address, and they ask anyone who finds the note to marry her. To the secret police and the narrator’s employer, the notes look like prostitution. The narrator suspects that this time, the interrogation will be different. Major Albu claims that she also hid notes in suits destined for Sweden and other countries across Europe. The notes are critical of Ceausescu’s regime, and she could easily go to jail. The narrator claims that she didn’t write these notes, but it is unclear whether she is telling the truth. The Appointment takes place on the narrator’s tram journey from her home to the secret police offices. The entire book spans a 90-minute period. However, the narrator spends much of the journey reflecting on her past and how she ended up in this mess in the first place. She feels that no one will miss her if she doesn’t come home. She thinks back to the various men in her life and how none of them ever did a very good job of protecting her. First, she remembers her father who neglected her. He loved his mistress more than anything. For a long time, the narrator wished she could take the mistress’s place, because she is the only woman who ever captured her father’s attention. The narrator remembers how she felt when she met her first husband. She didn’t know it when she first met him, but he was abusive and possessive, and he controlled her every move. Eventually, she decided to leave him for her own happiness, but he didn’t plan to make it easy. To spite him, she sold her wedding ring at a flea market. At the flea market, the narrator met Paul. He gave her a good price for the ring, and afterward, they started seeing each other. When the narrator’s first husband found out about the affair, he dragged her to a bridge and tried to throw her into the sea. She managed to escape, and she never saw him again. She married Paul shortly after. Despite loving Paul for a time, before long, cracks showed in the marriage. Paul’s alcoholism makes him difficult to live with, and she never knows what mood he will be in. Half the time, she’s not sure whether he notices her or not. If he finds out that she is sending notes to random men in other countries, he will divorce her and leave her penniless. The narrator believes it’s a woman’s fate to suffer indignation, betrayal, and humiliation. She remembers her best friend, Lilli, who fell in love with an elderly retired army officer. Together, they planned to escape over the border, but the authorities shot and killed Lilli. The narrator blames Lilli’s lover for everything, especially since he didn’t try to protect her from the gunshots. As she draws closer to her appointment, the narrator thinks about her wider family. She remembers how her first father-in-law, a secret police officer, who found out about her grandparents’ refusal to comply with government orders. He sent them to a forced labor camp and made the narrator watch as they were sent away. The narrator realizes that, for people like her, resistance is futile. As this realization dawns on the narrator, the tram shudders to a stop. She is forced to leave the tram early, knowing she will be late for her appointment. She decides that resistance is futile, and no matter how many times she protests her innocence, Major Albu will imprison her anyway. She decides to simply go home to wait for Major Albu to arrest her. At this point, she sees Paul in the distance with an older man. It is implied that Paul and the older man, who symbolizes totalitarian authority, have been watching her every move.

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Herta Müller

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The Appointment

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