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Part 3, Chapter 2
Themes
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
The summer drags on, and Tony still refuses to accept Grünlich’s proposal. Though she used to call the consul “Papa,” now she will only call him “Father.” Everything changes one day in July, when Grünlich himself reappears at the Buddenbrooks’ home. Tony is horrified at the prospect of having to interact with Grünlich. She’s mortified when she starts to cry. Grünlich, determined to woo Tony, hardly notices. Suddenly, Grünlich takes Tony’s hand and offers her an effusive, in-person proposal. Tony angrily rejects Grünlich’s proposal, frustrated he can’t take no for an answer. Grünlich eventually leaves—though he promises to return.
For the first time in her life, as her cold and detached treatment of the consul shows, Tony’s dislike of Grünlich has caused her loyalty to her family to falter. She has known that as a woman marriage is the means through which she will advance her family’s financial prospects and social standing. While that was well and good in theory, in practice she finds it insurmountably difficult to set aside her personal desires for the sake of her family.
Themes
