Does Womanhood Transcend Apocalypse Through Care?

Marlen Haushofer's 1963 novel 'The Wall' presents a stark and thought-provoking scenario: a woman, referred to as 'I,' finds herself inexplicably isolated by an invisible yet solid wall after a trip to her cousin's mountain cabin. The world beyond the wall appears devoid of human life, with those she encounters frozen in death. Trapped within this barrier, 'I' begins a solitary existence, focusing on survival with the help of a dog named Lux, a cow named Bella, and a cat.

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This cow is both a blessing and a great burden to me.

The novel, initially recognized with the Arthur Schnitzler Prize, gained renewed attention in the 1980s during a period of heightened nuclear anxiety. Its layered themes allow for diverse interpretations: a critique of consumerism and nuclear warfare, a denunciation of anthropocentric violence from an animal rights perspective, an ecofeminist narrative, or a story about a woman's writing process in isolation. The story's resonance is so profound that many scenes evoke the recent experiences of COVID-19 lockdowns, demonstrating its enduring relevance across different eras and reader perspectives.

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I have become both the cow's owner and the cow's slave.

As the narrator meticulously cares for the animals, Bella the cow, Lux the dog, and the cat, she reflects on her past life and her two grown daughters, who are now independent and whose survival beyond the wall is uncertain. While she calmly accepts the possibility of their demise, she revisits the intense emotions of fullness and anxiety she felt while raising them. The narrator even views the time when her daughters needed her less as a form of 'end.' In the current 'end of the world' scenario, her devoted care for the animals mirrors these past feelings of happiness and unease, highlighting a dual existence as both owner and servant.

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The story's layers are so numerous that it can be read as a critique of consumerism and nuclear war, an animal rights story exposing the violence of human-centered civilization, an ecofeminist work, or a story about a woman's writing in isolation.

This raises the question: does the novel suggest care is an inherent condition of womanhood? Haushofer seems to propose something broader: that care is a fundamental prerequisite for ecological survival and should be a horizontal connection. The narrative questions the existence of beings who willingly participate in this cycle of care versus those who disrupt it, turning it into a vertical, hierarchical dynamic. The sudden appearance of a man with an axe in this fragile, re-emerging ecosystem forces the protagonist to confront her perception of him, as a longed-for fellow human or an intruder threatening her carefully constructed world. Her ultimate choice, whether driven by action or reaction, remains intrinsically linked to the novel's central theme of care.

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Are we to believe that care is the fundamental condition of womanhood?