The Levels of Individual Guilt.

German were thus based in which sector you lived.  Jake Geismar, the narrator and protagonist of the novel, has a clear definition of what a ‘good’ German is, “Not a Nazi”, however he does not realize that many Germans and non-Germans alike were forced to join the Nazi party to continue their jobs and live as they once used to do.  Emil Brandt, a mathematician, worked for the SS in Nordhausen and informs Jake he and his group have “survived them”.  Jake however forces Emil to decide for himself to take the blame not only for the events in Nordhausen but also for participating in such horrific activities as making destructive weapons and conducting inhumane activities.  This level of guilt forces Emil to think of himself as a ‘bad’ German but he continually takes the guilt off himself and blames the SS for and the Nazis in general for the war and especially Nordhausen.  The American Government however views Mr. Brandt as a key aide and is willing to grant him a permission to stay in the United States.  This allows many key German scientists to consider themselves innocent and let the SS take full blame for the war even though they directly participated.  The file found at Emil’s father’s house is evidence that they complied with the SS more thoroughly then asked for and must be held liable for their actions.  Renate, a Jew, is forced to join the SS to make enough money to care for her child.  She became a greifer and found other Jews that were escaping the Nazis by roaming around from one crowded area to another.  Jake however feels more compassion towards her because she was doing it for her child.  Emil on the other was more in favor of protecting his group and himself instead of his family.  Renate knew what she was doing was wrong and tells Jake, who interviews her, that what she did was only for the safety of her mother and child.  The Russians who captured her are more than willing to execute her and treat her as a Nazi than they would Emil Brandt.  Renate does not have any value to the Russians or to the Americans and thus is harshly punished for her crimes.  Thus there is great amount of individual guilt placed on Renate and she is held accountable for her actions while Emil and his group are granted permission to go to the United States.  The crimes committed by the scientist are just as cruel as those of Renate and are supervised by the same authority but the group gets a fresh life while Renate rots in jail awaiting her death.         The relationship between Emil and his father illustrates the lack of confidence the criminals and the victims have in conversing with one another.  Emil’s father decided not to join the Nazis and there programs while Emil believed this was the only opportunity he had to make a name for himself.  After there separation the relationship between father and son worsens and Emil loses his father’s respect.  Emil’s father however goes to great length to protect his son by hiding the Nordhausen files showing that Emil, no matter what he did, was still his blood.  Similarly, Renate becomes a greifer to protect her son and further asks Jake to take her son with him and raise him up as a Jew.  The narration of the book occurs over a two month period and there is no mention of future generations dealing with the aftermath of the war, however Renate wants Jake not to mention to Erich what she did and simply said she died during the war.  This shows that she is obviously ashamed of her crimes and wants her son to grow up in an untainted environment, away from Germany.           By creating a fictional account of post-war Germany Kanon brilliantly illustrates to the reader the biases that went on after the war.  Adding characters such a Muller and Sikorsky Kanon shows that justice after the war was decided on what a person was worth after the war and not on what the person did during it.  Thus many ‘bad’ Germans that committed some of the worst crimes were given pardons and others were punished severely for their part in the war.  Individual guilt thus was not appropriately given has many key scientist who designed the weapons, chambers, and performed inhumane experiments were granted pardons while the guilt was given to Hitler and only some of his members while others were seen as just puppets.