The story – The characters

Hans Castorp, a young engineer, travels from Hamburg to the sanatorium Berghof located above Davos, in Switzerland. His cousin, Joachim Ziemssen has been staying at the sanatorium for several months because, like the majority of the patients or guests at the Berghof, he suffers from tuberculosis. Hans Castorp is an orphan, has even lost his grandfather with whom he grew up and Joachim is one of the last relatives he has left. The cousins are very different. Joachim, who was in the army before he got ill, is upright and quiet and filled with an unshakable sense of duty. Hans Castor is the livelier of the two. He’s curious, easily enthusiastic and at times silly and naive. Nothing is further from his character than the army, but he admires Joachim for his calling, for knowing exactly which place in this world he must occupy.

When Hans first arrives, he finds almost everything hilarious. The therapy, the many people from different countries, the eccentric doctors, the strict rules. Hofrat Behrens, who is in charge of the Berghof tells him that he would profit from taking part in Joachim’s therapy. He finds him a little pale. Maybe he is ill without knowing it. Since his arrival Hans has been feeling off. His face is burning, he’s lacking stamina when they go for walks and when he finally takes his temperature, he seems to be running a low fever. Behrens soon declares that he has to stay. He can’t go back after three weeks. He should stay at least several months. Anyone else would probably be devastated but to Hans Castorp, who is something like a drifter and doesn’t really know what to do with his life, it comes as a relief. Truth be told, he loves staying at the sanatorium. It has so much to offer and for someone as curious and directionless as Hans Castorp, it offers not only entertainment, but sense and purpose. The days are rigorously structured, the food is abundant, the other guests are interesting. And then there’s Clawdia Chauchat, a fascinating, beautiful woman with mysterious eyes and the infuriating habit to bang doors. What makes Clawdia so special to Hans is that she reminds him of his first love interest, a boy he went to school with. Clawdia notices soon that Hans is attracted to her and sometimes flirts with him. At other times, she pretends not to see him. Poor Hans. His infatuation is so intense, it becomes a folly. When he finds out that Behrens paints her portrait, he feigns great interest in art to see the painting. What follows is one of the most hilarious chapters in the whole book.

The many meals the patients take in the dining room are an important part of life at the Berghof. There are ten round tables and at each there are at least ten people dining together. The meals are frequent and usually composed of at least five courses. The guests seem grouped by country of origin or by languages. Two of the tables are the “low” and the “high” Russian table. Clawdia, who is not only Russian, but very rich, sits at the “high” Russian table.

Apart from Hans Castorp and Joachim Ziemssen, there are at least six other main characters. Settembrini and Naphta, Hofrat Behrens and Doktor Krokowski, and Clawdia Chauchat and Mynheer Peperkorn. Thomas Mann said that each character represented a specific type and so it’s not surprising that they do occasionally seem like caricatures. The two characters that take up the most space are the two diametrically opposed characters Settembrini and Naphta. Settembrini is introduced early on, while Naphta will appear much later. They are both not exactly likable and most of the difficulty of the book is due to them. Settembrini who likes Hans very much and senses his naivety takes it upon himself to instruct him on a wide variety of topics from humanism to literature to politics. It’s Settembrini who reminds Hans that there’s still a world out there, that things are getting darker, that conflict is looming. Naphta is the exact opposite of Settimbrini who, despite being annoying, is a positive figure. Naphta is a dark character who loves to provoke Settembrini. Their discussions and disputes occupy large portions of the second part of the book and were at times quite challenging. If one wanted to simplify one could say, Settembrini represents life, while Naphta represents death. Or God and the devil.

Hofrat Behrens is an imposing figure. He’s a bit like the director of an orchestra and his patients are his musicians. He’s running a tight ship and whenever someone gets worse or just not better, he immediately orders a few more months of stay. Hardly anyone protests. They see him as a godlike figure, one who rules over life and death. I will say more about him when I’ll write about illness and therapy.

The last big character to be introduced, is Mynheer Peperkorn. He makes a massive impression on everyone, especially Hans Castorp because he’s such a larger than life character. Initially, he comes across as rather ridiculous and the reader doesn’t really understand the fascination but, in the end, he proves to be a rather tragic character.

While not exactly as important as those I’ve just mentioned, there are many minor characters who are very essential too. There is silly Frau Stöhr who says the stupidest things or Hans’ uncle Tienappel who flees in horror because he finds the place so bizarre. There are many more. Some are very funny, some are tragic, some are ascetic, others lustful. Some stay a few weeks, some stay years and many will never leave.