Alex and Nana live in a caravan in a post-civilisation landscape in northern Germany, seemingly far away from any other people. The events narrated in the story only cover a few hours, but together with Alex\u2019s numerous, recounted memories, it becomes clear that their life is entirely determined by Nana\u2019s poor health. The exact nature of her illness is not specified in the text, but it is obviously serious, as she can no longer walk, talk or eat, and even morphine remains ineffective against the pain. Nana is therefore fully dependent on Alex\u2019s care, who is visibly burdened by the situation. Nevertheless, he looks after her lovingly and self-sacrificingly, as readers witness, from the moment she wakes up in the morning. Alex then prepares the car in which they drive off shortly after the story\u2019s opening. In a field, he stops, takes a pistol out of the boot and shoots Nana in the head. He panics, does not manage to shoot himself as planned, and walks in the direction of a nearby railway embankment. This is where the text ends, suggesting that Alex takes his own life after all by throwing himself in front of a train.<\/p>
The text, for which the author and physician Jens Petersen was awarded the prestigious Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, challenges the reader\u2019s ethical thinking, as it does not provide any explicit information about the characters\u2019 motives for their actions. Readers are thus left in the dark as to what exactly prompts Alex to shoot his partner and what Nana\u2019s intentions or desires are. Nana\u2019s poor state of health certainly suggests that it was an act of euthanasia, i.e. a \u2018mercy killing\u2019 on her demand with which Alex wanted to release her from her suffering. This is also indicated by his loving care and the fact that he had previously considered taking her to a right-to-die organisation in Switzerland, where \u2013 unlike in Germany at the time \u2013 assisted suicide was possible. If Nana had asked Alex to end her suffering in this way, his act would have constituted the offence of \u2018Killing upon request\u2019 under Section 216 of the German Criminal Code, which is privileged compared to other homicide offences and carries a lower penalty. However, the text remains ambivalent. It is unclear both whether or not Nana actually wished to die, and whether or not she was aware of the impending killing, with the text giving contradictory indications. The killing can therefore not only be understood as a consensual \u2018last act of love,\u2018 but also as a one-sided and highly problematic act of desperation, since it is equally indicated that Alex wants to free himself from the overburdening situation of being her sole full-time carer, due to which he even seems to show signs of mental illness. In any case, the text clearly suggests that it is not about individual guilt, but that the fundamental problem lies in the lack of support from society and family, which leaves the couple completely to themselves in a highly vulnerable situation. It urges society and the healthcare system to ensure that people, especially those from a lower socio-economic background like the characters presented in the short story, do not end up in situations where they see killing and\/or suicide as the only remaining option.<\/p>","cover":{"ratio":1.028571428571428469922466319985687732696533203125,"url":"https:\/\/assistedlab.ch\/media\/pages\/textual\/bis-dass-der-tod\/3b0c155984-1713881203\/petersen-2-2410x-q90.jpg","caption":"\u00a9 leedsn, Beautiful stormy sky with clouds and snowy road, iStock, 2019"},"toggles":[{"title":"Suggested citation","list":[{"text":"Bis dass der Tod, Assisted Lab\u2019s Living Archive of Assisted Dying, tba ","link":null,"pathname":null}]},{"title":"Reviews","list":[{"text":"Roman Bucheli, Abschied vom pathetischen Zeitalter, Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung, 2010","link":"https:\/\/www.nzz.ch\/abschied_vom_pathetischen_zeitalter-ld.920406?reduced=true","pathname":"nzz.ch"},{"text":"Harald Klauhs, Bachmannpreis 2009: \u2018Stechen, Ziepen und Rumoren\u2018, Die Presse, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.diepresse.com\/490952\/bachmannpreis-2009-stechen-ziepen-und-rumoren","pathname":"diepresse.com"},{"text":"Stefan Gm\u00fcnder, Weniger Sprache, viel mehr Welt, Der Standard, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.derstandard.at\/story\/1245820275488\/weniger-sprache-viel-mehr-welt","pathname":"derstandard.at"},{"text":"Andreas Breitenstein, Wider die falsche Gem\u00fctlichkeit, Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.nzz.ch\/wider_die_falsche_gemuetlichkeit-ld.958943?reduced=true","pathname":"nzz.ch"},{"text":"Wiebke Porombka, Handzahme Texte, Die Tageszeitung (taz), 2009","link":"https:\/\/taz.de\/Bachmann-Wettbewerb-in-Klagenfurt\/!5160698\/","pathname":"taz.de"},{"text":"Klaus Kanzog, Bachmann-Preis: Im philologischen H\u00e4rtetest, Die Zeit, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.zeit.de\/2009\/28\/Bachmann-Preistraeger","pathname":"zeit.de"}]},{"title":"Media citations","list":[{"text":"Marc Keller, Tod auf Verlangen, Neue Z\u00fcrcher Zeitung, 2015","link":"https:\/\/www.nzz.ch\/feuilleton\/buecher\/tod-auf-verlangen-ld.742963?reduced=true","pathname":"nzz.ch"},{"text":"Author unknown, Keiner zu klein, ein Leser zu sein, St.Galler Tagblatt, 2010","link":"https:\/\/www.tagblatt.ch\/leben\/keiner-zu-klein-ein-leser-zu-sein-ld.157446","pathname":"tagblatt.ch"},{"text":"David Hugendick, Wer ist Jens Petersen?, Die Zeit, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.zeit.de\/2009\/28\/Portraet-Petersen","pathname":"zeit.de"},{"text":"Jan Strobel, \u2018Mir hat das Sterben anderer schlaflose N\u00e4chte beschert\u2018, Tages-Anzeiger, 2009","link":null,"pathname":null},{"text":"Aeschbacher, Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.srf.ch\/play\/tv\/aeschbacher\/video\/jens-petersen?urn=urn:srf:video:d800b516-79f9-4c16-9fd0-6a9d53645c10","pathname":"srf.ch"}]},{"title":"Interest Group citations","list":[{"text":"Arzt und Schriftsteller zugleich, Schleswig-Holsteinisches \u00c4rzteblatt, 2010","link":null,"pathname":null},{"text":"Sterbehilfe: Ein H\u00f6chstma\u00df an Linderung, Jens Petersen in Die Zeit, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.zeit.de\/2009\/30\/CH-Sterbehilfe","pathname":"zeit.de"},{"text":"Jens Petersen: Erfahrungen mit Schmerz und Tod, \u00c4rzteblatt, 2009","link":"https:\/\/www.aerzteblatt.de\/archiv\/65473\/Jens-Petersen-Erfahrungen-mit-Schmerz-und-Tod","pathname":"aerzteblatt.de"},{"text":"Animal rationale. Im Gespr\u00e4ch mit der evolution\u00e4ren Anthropologie, Cusanuswerk, 2009","link":null,"pathname":null},{"text":"\u2018Schlag nach bei Shakespeare\u2026\u2018 \u2013 Demenz in der Literatur, TERTIANUM, 2009","link":null,"pathname":null}]}]}