(Schiller 1992). Christian's desire for revenge resonates within Wolffian
philosophy. Wolff describes how a person's actions are in response to a
stimulus; specifically, he states that there must be a catalyst in order to
generate a reaction. "Jeder Korper wird von einem anderen bewegt; so
geht die aktive Kraft nicht aus dem Wesen oder aus der Materie des
Korpers hervor, sondern er bekommt sie von einem anderen mitgeteilt,
kann sie jedoch auch andere weitergeben" (Wolff). His aversion to and
exclusion from society compel Christian to seek vengeance. A single
entity is identified as the source of his misfortune: Robert the forest
warden. Christian identifies the reason for his exclusion as something
external to himself, that is to say not contained with his soul, and he
seeks an external source as the cause of his misfortune. Robert, the man
who apprehended him three times, and his rival for the affections of
Johanna becomes the most convenient choice. Robert, a resident of the
town that derided him because of his physiognomy, is connected to the
very punitive mechanisms responsible for forcing Christian into
criminality. Robert, in essence, symbolizes all that has gone wrong in
Christian's life and represents society's rejection; it is because of him
that Christian becomes a criminal. Coincidentally Abel's description of
Schwan's murdering the ranger is almost identical. However, whereas
Abel describes Schwan as someone overcome by his own passions,
Christian's hand is forced by what he described as an "unsichtbare
Macht." His actions cause him immediate remorse and not release.
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