Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig
Oct. 15th, 2025 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
m_oonmoonThere is no confusion about the central theme of this very aptly-titled book. As straightforward as its intentions are, the story is told in a meandering way, with the narrator carefully setting the scene of his own shame and weakness. If this were a leaner novel, it would be a lot shorter but we would lose out on a couple of entertaining side stories. Zweig, more known for his novellas, seems to have stretched a short story to make it into a full-length novel, adding filler stories to fatten up the book. The way he writes keeps you hooked enough to continue but it does feel a little tedious at times, especially when the general course of the story is already quite obvious.
However, I do think that the value of Beware of Pity is less in its story and more in its acute analysis of the human psyche, at least as far as the main character, Hofmiller, is concerned. As with any character who is being scrutinized, there is of course nothing admirable about Hofmiller. He is vain, a coward, and unable to take accountability for his actions. In his desire to be liked, he keeps making promises that he cannot keep and statements that he would later regret. By the end of the novel, it is exactly this lack of conviction that leads to his greatest shame. Its a cautionary tale that, despite its rather sentimental setting, still feels relevant to anyone.
The way the disabled character is depicted is a little off-putting though. I understand that this was told from Hofmiller's perspective but Zweig did not seem inclined to give her dignity. She was constantly infantilized by everyone around her and there was hardly any depth to her. She felt like just a standee for Zweig to tell the story. Given how central she is to Hofmiller's story, Zweig should have fleshed her out more. Perhaps in a novella this could be dismissed but in a novel, I feel like Zweig could have spent more time with her rather than giving us long-winded and dull details about Hofmiller's feelings.
It was entertaining as I was reading it but it did feel a little flat after I finished.
However, I do think that the value of Beware of Pity is less in its story and more in its acute analysis of the human psyche, at least as far as the main character, Hofmiller, is concerned. As with any character who is being scrutinized, there is of course nothing admirable about Hofmiller. He is vain, a coward, and unable to take accountability for his actions. In his desire to be liked, he keeps making promises that he cannot keep and statements that he would later regret. By the end of the novel, it is exactly this lack of conviction that leads to his greatest shame. Its a cautionary tale that, despite its rather sentimental setting, still feels relevant to anyone.
For the first time I was coming to see how the basest of all things that happen on this earth are occasioned, not so much by genuine wickedness and brutality, but far more often by mere weakness.
The way the disabled character is depicted is a little off-putting though. I understand that this was told from Hofmiller's perspective but Zweig did not seem inclined to give her dignity. She was constantly infantilized by everyone around her and there was hardly any depth to her. She felt like just a standee for Zweig to tell the story. Given how central she is to Hofmiller's story, Zweig should have fleshed her out more. Perhaps in a novella this could be dismissed but in a novel, I feel like Zweig could have spent more time with her rather than giving us long-winded and dull details about Hofmiller's feelings.
It was entertaining as I was reading it but it did feel a little flat after I finished.