![]() ![]() ![]() Unknowingly Joachim has taken on some of the characteristics of the mode of life at the Berghof. Mann uses nature here to evoke new, unfamiliar feelings in Hans, feelings of vagueness and timelessness - feelings which will he intensified later on as he ventures higher into the regions of eternal snow and ice.īesides using nature to introduce the newcomer to the sanatorium, Mann also uses Joachim Ziemssen, Castorp's cousin. As a newcomer, Hans Castorp is exposed, first of all, to the thin air of the Berghof and the bizarre silhouettes of dense forests and snowcapped peaks surrounding it. Throughout this book are countless, recurring variations on the theme of time. ![]() The opening sentences also contain the novel's other major theme: the complexity and mystery of time. This is, of course, the major theme of the novel: the lengthy, cumbersome, and perilous road of Hans Castorp's self-education. Mann merely mentions Castorp's simplicity to emphasize his faculty of meeting the countless influences to which he is exposed and to resist the many temptations to commit himself permanently to any view or cause. ![]() The first two sentences of the novel's foreword deserve special attention, for they contain the hero's characterization as "simple-minded." As the story progresses, we become increasingly aware that Hans Castorp is by no means a "simple-minded" young man in the derogatory sense of the term. ![]()
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