increasing susceptibility to militarism, ultra-nationalism, anti-Semitism, and colonialism. His character is often juxtaposed, in both words and appearance to Kaiser Wilhelm II. In one instance, Hessling's behavior and outward appearance move an observer to stammer, 'It almost seems to me...You look so very much like His ...' , meaning the Kaiser. Mann uses the moral bankruptcy and shallow ridiculousness of Hessling's life to critique both Wilhelminism and the German culture of the period. Like other German novels of the era, such as Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, or even his brother Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks, the principal target is the hypocrisy of the middle class and the risk of social collapse in a nation of loyal 'Untertan' citizens. Thomas Mann, however, rejected the work as "heinous aestheticism", while Kurt Tucholsky praised it as the "herbarium of the German man". The novel is frequently read in German schools up to today. Adaptation A lithograph named Der Untertan was created by Karl Hubbuch in 1923. In East Germany, the book was made into the 1951 DEFA film Der Untertan (released in English as The Kaiser's Lackey), directed by Wolfgang Staudte and starring Werner Peters as Diederich Hessling. It received the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic and initially was banned in West Germany until a shortened version was released in 1957. A radio drama was produced by the public Westdeutscher Rundfunk broadcaster in 1971. The BBC adapted the book for a six-part TV mini-series Man of Straw, broadcast in 1972, with Derek Jacobi as Hessling. References External links The Patrioteer. Full 1921 English translation at Google Books Man of Straw. Penguin Books, London, 1984, c1918. () 1918 German-language novels German novels adapted into films German novels adapted into television shows