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| Davos around 1900 |
This chapter covers the third and fourth day of Hans stay. The weather has changed to the worst.
The cousins go for shopping and meet
Settembrini
1.Bildung
Hans Castorp goes into town to buy himself
some blankets. He even considers to buy a fur lined sleeping bag but backs off,
frightened by the idea. Investing in a sleeping bag, which he cannot use in Hamburg
Meeting with Settembrini
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he is suffering from the cold as
he was from the warmth some days before. With only one set of clothes he is
either over dressed or under dressed.
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He criticizes the rules of the
Sanatorium which are according to him based on financial interest.
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Yearning for warmth, he has fond
memories of his father
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Settembrini suffers from the
stupidity of some of his tablemates
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Settembrini does not like
Behrens ( because he keeps him on the mountain? ) nor Krokowski ( father
confessor ) who wants to dissect his mind
Then Hans makes a careless assumption :
“One assumes stupid people must be healthy
and vulgar, and that illness must ennoble people and make them wise and special”
Settembrini reacts immediately:
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placet experiri: Settembrini
says that Hans like other young people is experimenting with ideas.
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Bad ideas must immediately be
countered else they become an indelible trait of character in the young man
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Of all ideas “hanging” around
this subject, why has Hans exactly chosen this one?
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“Illness is definitely not
elegant and certainly not venerable- such a view in itself is a sickness”
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It is an ugly and outdated idea
that comes from ( religious ) superstition that harmony and health is
suspicious and devilish and infirmity a passport to heaven
Then Settembrin, like an organ grinder, switches to his political tune : Reason and Enlightment will battle religious
superstition with earthly work, which will lead us on the path of progress and civilization and then towards a brighter
light.
And now comes the catch. Settembrini in his
reasoning overshoots the truths with which he has begun with and makes his ideas
suspicious. Listen to the ugly things he says:
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“Illness is a debasement of
humanity”
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“The tragedy begins where
nature has been cruel enough to break the harmony of the personality by joining
a noble and life – affirming mind to a body unfit for live”.
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( about Leopardi) “He viewed
nature as evil, and she is evil, stupid and evil”
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“ A human being who lives as an
invalid is only a body – he is no better than a cadaver
Finally Settembrini sees the young mind not
as an empty page, but a page fully written, the wrong and the good ideas together
and it is up to the educator the erase the wrong ideas
Anyhow the message is missed on Hans and
Joachim who have only been impressed by his eloquence
2. Time
Snow in August. Seasons are absent on the
mountain. We cannot count on them to appreciate time. See: The seasons are
not all that different from one another.
3. Notes
Reminder that Settembrini is not as well to
do as most guests.
Placet
experiri: Latin phrase meaning "It pleases to experiment"
See how
Hans when speaking to Settembrini is
ashamed to admit that he bought blankets.
