Structure

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Beginning

The short story begins in medias res, or in the middle of events. The exposition opens with the narrator looking at a woman standing in the rain. She reminds him of Klaus because she has a desolate expression on her face. The gloomy mood and weather foreshadow Klaus’ inability to integrate in his classroom and also the narrator’s own misfortune as his firm is about to go bankrupt.

The narrator is fascinated by the woman’s presence and tries to watch her discreetly. However, he notices that other p…

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Middle

In the rising action, through a backstory, the narrator presents the incidents that occurred when Klaus was first introduced to the class. The headmaster’s warning not to treat Klaus differently foreshadows his social exclusion.

The narrator’s family stated that Klaus was a “different class to the rest of the boys” (p. 92, l. 13). This implies that Klaus’ social exclusion is based not only on his foreign background, language, and culture but also on his social class. However, the narrator himself is too young to understand this.

A tension point is created when the headmaster starts talking about Klaus’s homeland, and the boy gives a reply in German. When asked if anyone in the classroom speaks German, a boy starts making fun of Klaus, imitating him.

As the rising action continues, the narra…

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Ending

In the falling action, Klaus is ultimately taken to the sick room, and as he continues to speak only in German for the next few days, he is sent home never to return again (p. 95, ll. 18-20).

The narrator notices that it has stopped raining and the woman is still waiting outside; he observes that she doesn’t look so miserable in the sunshine. The narrator tries to come up with a way of telling his wife that the firm is going to go bankrupt.

Through a flashforward, the narrator pictures the routine af…