October!
1. Time
Months slip into the
next without one noticing. Nature with the evergreens gives no clear sign
either of changing seasons
2. Eros
Hans is often silent,
thinking about Clawdia ? An intoxication he does not want to be rid off ? Drunken
with Love ?
Hans compares the
things Settembrini said and how he feels about Clawdia. All the annoying things
( door slamming, nail biting…etc ) which offended him earlier on, do not
disturb him anymore. Instead it are the comments of Settembrini who annoy him
now.
Hans is crossing
borders, both in his opinions and attitudes. He slumps in his chair, let doors
bang etc…
Mann confirms what we
know already: Hans has fallen head over heels in love with Clawdia
He gives two examples
of how Hans gets immense joys out of trivial events.
Everybody is aware of
Hans love for Clawdia, Joachim included.
HC hurries up the
mountain to overtake Clawdia walking in front of him.
Joachim tries to follow
him but because of his illness strains himself, but for HC too, it is a bit too
much. Because of the effort or the renewed contact with la Clawdia, his
temperature is rising again.
Twice, the ill Clawdia
is compared and preferred to a healthy little goose from down below. Against
Settembrini’s advice HC still sees something superior in being ill.
3. Note
The narrator intervenes
directly in the text “ We have as much right as anyone to private thoughts
about the story unfolding here…” and says : “ HC would not have stayed with the
people up here…if some satisfying answer about the meaning and purpose of life
had been supplied…”
