Steppenwolf

Haller chooses a door that reads “Automobile Hunting,” and he finds a war behind the door. People in homes are shooting at cars and planes, and placards explain that one side wants to kill off machines while the other wants to give over control to the machines. Haller thinks this war is inevitable in the modern day, and he appreciates that no phony nationalism is involved. Haller’s former friend, Gustav, joins Harry and says he was teaching theology until the war broke out. Gustav shoots the driver of a car, gets in with Haller, and they drive out of town. Gustav says he is not on either side, instead striving for balance. They set up at a vantage point and shoot the driver of a luxury car, which crashes into a wall with the driver dead inside. Gustav shoots next, and Haller laments that the driver of the next vehicle is a woman.

Gustav confronts one of the men in a car, and a woman gets out of the car and faints. The man is an Attorney General, and Gustav criticizes him for sentencing men to prison or death. The man turns the criticism around on Gustav, who defends himself by saying his is killing for fun and out of despair. Another car arrives, Gustav and Haller hold the three men inside at gunpoint, and they order the men to take the Attorney General into town. The woman, named Dora, wakes up, and the three of them return to the vantage point to shoot more drivers. Dora reloads their guns and asks if they fear police or soldiers. Gustav says there are none, so they must either shoot drivers or drive and be shot at, preferring to do the shooting. One man survives a car crash and shoots at Haller and Gustav, but they shoot back and kill him. When a pedestrian arrives, gets some food and wine from a car, and sits to eat and drink, Haller and Gustav feel ashamed of their violence. They get out of the vantage point to go back to town, but Haller and Dora fall through some planks off a cliff.

Back in the theater of doors, Haller debates his options, choosing a door that promises to build up his personality. Inside, there is a chess player, who holds up a mirror to fragment Haller’s self again. The player takes Haller’s different selves, lines them up on the chess board, and starts a game with them. The player says modern science has labeled the different facets of the self as “schizomania,” but they fail to understand that there is no singular order to these selves. The player arranges many games, in which Haller sees the unity of himself expressed through different themes and conflicts of his constituent souls. The player gives Haller the pieces, and Haller returns to the theater. Haller goes through a door that promises to tame the Steppenwolf. Inside, a brutish version of Haller forces a large, emaciated wolf to perform tricks. Then, the man becomes emaciated and follows the orders of the wolf. Haller is terrified, and he flees, thinking of images of dead soldiers from the war (World War I).

Next, Haller goes to a door titled “All Girls Are Yours,” thinking it the most pleasant option. Haller is transported to his youth, where he met a girl named Rosa. In reality, Haller greeted her, waited for her to pass, and lamented his inaction afterward. In the theater, Haller calls her back, they hold hands, and they spend the spring together, finally kissing. The theater brings Haller through all his romances, both experienced and missed, and he imbues each with fullness and love. He lives out romances with women he only glimpsed at a port or station, and he plays out “games” with three or four people at a time. Finally, the theater brings him to Hermine, but he withdraws, knowing he belongs to Hermine fully. The theater only expresses parts of Haller, and he wants to return to Hermine with his new understanding of himself, love, and time. Back in the theater, Haller finds a door labeled “How One Kills For Love.”

Haller sees himself in a mirror, and his reflection tells him death is coming. Haller reaches for his chess pieces and finds a knife. Mozart appears, and Haller follows him into a performance of Don Giovanni. Haller criticizes modern music, but Mozart does not care. They see Brahms and Wagner harassed by thousands of people, and Mozart says they are paying penance for thick orchestration. Haller worries that he will spend eternity followed by people who read and edited his writing, which makes Mozart laugh. Mozart says everyone is born guilty, and Haller imagines Adam and the apple in the Garden of Eden. Mozart laughs, Haller grabs his ponytail, and Mozart flies away with Haller hanging by his hair. Haller sees his reflection in the theater again, but his reflection is older. Haller destroys the mirror and walks the hall of doors, now without labels.

Haller enters the last door and finds Hermine and Pablo, nude after sex. Haller stabs Hermine in the heart, Pablo smiles and leaves, and Haller stands in a trance above Hermine. Mozart appears and makes a radio, which gushes slime and Handel. Mozart tells Haller that technology may distort art, but it cannot destroy art’s spirit. Criticizing technology is futile, so Haller should find the humor in modernity. Mozart notes how Haller, despite his great taste, is still a beast, and Haller agrees, lamenting that he killed Hermine. Haller says he wants to pay for his crime, and he sees a notice for his own execution. Approaching a guillotine, the court reads Haller’s sentence. For stabbing Hermine’s reflection with the reflection of a knife, failing to use or accept humor, and bringing reality to the Magic Theater, Haller is sentenced to eternal life, banishment from the Theater for 12 hours, and to be laughed out of court.

Mozart expresses his disappointment in Haller, and he threatens to revive Hermine and make Haller marry her. He offers Haller another magic cigarette. Mozart becomes Pablo, Pablo shrinks Hermine into a chess piece, and Haller realizes he has been interacting only with pieces of himself. Haller feels renewed and ready to confront himself again, hoping he will one day learn to laugh like Mozart.