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Part 3, Chapter 1
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Buddenbrooks, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Family and Sacrifice
Tradition, Modernity, and Change
The Protestant Ethic
Personal Fulfillment and Self-Knowledge
Pretense and Etiquette
Summary
Analysis
A few days later, Tony runs into Herr Grünlich on the street. He exclaims how happy he is to see her. Tony replies, “The feeling is not mutual,” then coldly walks away. When she gets home, though, she learns that her parents have invited Grünlich over for supper next Sunday. That Sunday, Grünlich eats ravenously, effusively praising each course. He is kind and pleasant with the whole family. Tony remains silent, and Grünlich doesn’t try to engage her in conversation.
Grünlich continues to shower Tony with compliments even though she makes no secret that she dislikes him. This, and the fact that her parents have invited him over for dinner, suggests that something is going on here that Tony has yet to detect. Grünlich could simply be a businessman desperate to do business with the Buddenbrooks, but there could be more to it than that.
Active
Themes
Eight days later, Tony is surprised to find both her parents seated at the breakfast table. The consul tells Tony that he and Bethsy have something important to tell her. At last, the consul confirms Tony’s fears: Grünlich has written the consul and Bethsy a letter asking for Tony’s hand in marriage.
This meeting—an ambush, really, from Tony’s perspective—confirms why Grünlich has been spending so much time around the Buddenbrooks. It also makes clear to Tony that she, like Thomas, has duties she must fulfill as a member of a wealthy and socially important family. Her marriage to Grünlich is a business deal not unlike the business deals Thomas is learning to make.
Active
Themes
Tony begins to cry. The consul smiles affectionately and assures Tony that they will handle Grünlich’s proposal “calmly, because it is a serious matter.” In light of this, he'll neither accept nor reject Grünlich’s proposal until they have time to mull it over. Then, the consul leaves for work.
Active
Themes
Tony considers her situation; she’s always known it would be her fate to be a businessman’s wife—she has long been “quite aware of her obligations to her family and the firm”—but the new and strange situation is difficult for her to get used to. And Grünlich is so “bland” and unattractive. She asks Bethsy for her advice. Bethsy echoes the consul’s opinion, but she adds that if Tony were to marry Grünlich, it would be her ticket into Hamburg’s high society. This piques Tony’s interest. Carefully, Bethsy asks if Tony has “reached a decision.” Tony only scoffs, calling Grünlich’s proposal “nonsense.” Then she returns to her breakfast, slathering her bread with honey.
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