Michael Kohlhaas

I found this story a bit hard to follow; since there were no chapter or even separations between the scenes or anything. I kept in mind the theme of this quarter "Doing" while I was reading it and quickly learned that Michael Kohlhaas was doing something alright, he was doing a lot of things. He was actually doing too many things, that I gave up keeping track. But this story is appropriate for this quarter's theme since everything he does has an impact, whether its on himself, his family, innocent victims, or his followers. He was someone whose every action made a difference. He was a moral and just man who was wronged on so many levels beyond his control, but also became this merciless person who was clouded by vengeance and resentment. It seemed like he started following this sort of selfish philosophy of: If I can't be happy and have to suffer, then no one else can be happy either and will therefore have to suffer with me. I found myself more curious about his thoughts and reasoning than I did about whether or not his actions were ultimately justified. In the beginning of the story, the author makes Kohlhaas seem like a patient law-abiding citizen, but then somewhere along the way he transforms into this revolutionary figure (even though it was probably unintentional) for the citizens. Which sort of reminds me of V for Vendetta, except V was a more clever and interesting character who was actually trying to make a difference. But anyways for Kohlhaas, it seems like the author makes an example out of him; which is something the authorities do to keep the people in line so they won't be encouraged to follow his actions. Although, I guess his death can be justified because went running around setting villages on fire; and I can't recall if the story says there were casualties.