The Inner Depression of Beckmann’s Characterization after the War

“The Man Outside” is a play by Borchert that portrays the dark aftermath of the war that has greatly affected the physical and mental health of Beckmann, a soldier who fought in the war. The depression and guilt that plagued Beckmann for the rest of his life was the result of losing too many people that he loved and the horrified situation of the war has been haunting him forever.
The first instance that shows Beckmann was depressed appears in the first dream scene. Beckmann says, “I want to sleep – to be dead… to sleep in peace at last” (Borchert 86). Even though Beckmann has survived the war and has a chance to live again, his mind refuses to let go of the past and so he cannot find peace of mind. He chooses to die instead of living his life despite his peaceful surroundings after the war. It shows us that the situation of the war is imprinted in Beckmann’s mind; he cannot forget. It appears as a nightmare to him and haunts him forever, making him suffer and fall into depression all over again, repeatedly.
Beckmann finds out that his family, the ones he thought he could go home to, do not care about him after all. This intensifies his depression greatly as he has no one else to turn to. “The woman used to be my wife – just called me Beckmann, … and the other fellow who was with her … and then these ruins... and somewhere underneath lies my boy … He was just one year old… I couldn’t bear it” (Borchert 89). This passage shows that he left his wife for three years when he fought in Siberia. When he comes back, his wife sees him and acts as if she doesn’t know him. She emotionlessly calls him Beckmann, “as one calls a table” (Borchert 89) and treats him as if nothing had happened between them before. She appears to be happy with her new family and removes Beckmann from her life as she builds a new family without him. His son, who is just one year old, never calls him dad. He doesn’t even know that Beckmann exists. His only son doesn’t recognize him as a father, and this heightens the emotional turmoil Beckmann is experiencing. This is unfortunate as Beckmann’s family is one of his motivations to survive in the war and when he comes back, he is no longer welcomed. Beckmann strongly feels hopelessness because of this. He also believed his parents would welcome him home; however, when he returns to his old house, he discovers that others have replaced his parents in their home. In scene five, Frau Kramer says “and in Ohlsdorf the cemetery… there they’ve stayed, your old people” (Borchert 115). The last beacon of hope Beckmann had left—his parents—are gone forever. He discovers that they have abandoned him and are currently in the cemetery. Although he tries to find hope and satisfaction once again in his life and ultimately find reason to live, it seems he has failed. He has lost too many people—his wife, his son, and even his parents.
Lastly, what drives his mind past the edge of sanity is his guilt, which haunts him every moment. Beckmann wears respirator glasses, which allow him to see things more clearly. There’s a blur on his glasses, however, and this starts to freak him out because he believes he is seeing a monster. “But that’s only because I haven’t got my glasses, because the giant only has one leg” (Borchert 94). Beckmann begins to hallucinate people who were injured in the war through the blur on his glasses. The horrible incidents that had taken place during the war replays in his head and he sees all of this through his glasses. He feels responsible and guilty for those who had died in the war as well. He painfully announces “I stand there before the millions of grinning skeletons, the wrecks, and ruins of bone, with my responsibility, and count them off” (Borchert 101). Because the colonel put Beckmann in charge, Beckmann feels undeniable guilt because he was the one who lead his soldiers to fight. He couldn’t save them from the war. He believes he was responsible for those who sacrificed themselves for the war and felt extreme sorrow and guilt towards his soldiers’ families. All of these cause him to become mad, as he is no longer able think about anything but the war. Beckmann cannot move on and becomes mentally and emotionally damaged after the war; his mind isn’t able to separate the war itself from life after the war. Because his mental health has been severely damaged, he often believes subconsciously that the war is still ongoing. He begins to lose his mind and depression, guilt, sorrow, and loss drive him to insanity.
In conclusion, the war has a great impact on Beckmann’s once healthful mind. The situation of the war frightens him repeatedly; all of the dead soldiers, the blood, the wrecked bones and all the ruins replay in his mind. His own family disowns him and he discovers that his parents had passed away before he is able to say goodbye. He loses so many things that he loves after the war and now he is left with nothing but guilt and sorrow.