One of the novel’s central thematic preoccupations concerns the politics of transgression and atonement, as Katharina’s relationship with Hans raises questions about who has the authority to decide when someone has committed an ethical transgression and how that transgression should be corrected. As Katharina’s relationship with Hans dramatizes these questions on an intimate, personal level, the couple’s discussions raise similar questions regarding the history of East Germany.

When Hans discovers Katharina’s infidelity, he exacts a brutal campaign of cross-examination against her, demanding that she to surrender all the material evidence of her thought for his review. This protracted interrogation mirrors the tactics of the Stasi, who sought to bring state power to bear on even the most intimate aspects of East Germans’ lives. Katharina willingly submits to Hans’s demands out of love as well as guilt. Over time, however, Hans’s prolonged psychological torture causes her to question the point of his endeavor: Either Hans wants to examine the wreck of their relationship in order to strengthen it in the aftermath, or he hates her and is using her transgression to justify abusing her as an outlet for his anger. When Katharina calls him out on this in Part 2, Chapter 17, he almost immediately capitulates, returning to the tenderness that marked their early days together.