The purpose of this article is to analyze several aspects of Dürrenmatt’s novel The Breakdown. The story is simple: after the breakdown of his car, a certain Traps is offered hospitality by four friends. Invited to take part in a game, a trial where he is to play the accused, he agrees. He is convicted of murder, acknowledges his guilt and commits suicide. After an outline of the story, the article treats the following themes: Traps’ personality and his transformation during the game; the ambiguous role of the four friends; the Greek tragicomic genre of the work; the comic as well as the tragic aspects; the atmosphere of anxiety and death; symmetries and inversions; the literary art. A conclusion discusses an alternative reading of the work, diametrically opposed to its “normal” interpretation.