Mr. Köhler is Edmund's ailing, bedridden patriarch. Plagued by illness and despair, he views himself as a burden and expresses suicidal thoughts. After a temporary hospital stay, he returns home and dies after drinking tea secretly poisoned by Edmund.
Edmund is the devoted but increasingly desperate son of the ailing father.
Eva is the father's daughter who manages black market trades to support the family.
Karl-Heinz is the father's older son, burdened by his own wartime guilt and fear.
Teacher's social Darwinist philosophy indirectly condemns the father's suffering in Edmund's eyes.
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