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Part 3, Chapter 6
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
Tony and young Schwarzkopf wander through the spa gardens. After some light conversation, Tony works up the courage to ask young Schwarzkopf his name—she’s embarrassed that she doesn’t know it. He tells her “Morten,” blushing. Tony tells him it’s an “exotic” name. Morten accuses Tony of being “a romantic.”
Tony tends to idealize and romanticize things, and young Schwarzkopf—Morten, as she now knows—is no exception. Though Tony seems genuinely to like Morten, her interest in him also stems from how exotic and different he is from the high-class, wealth-obsessed people she usually spends time with. He is the opposite of Grünlich, notably.
Active
Themes
Tony and Morten reach the beach, and Tony wanders closer to the water, where bathers are assembled along the sand. Morten guesses Tony wants to hang out with her friends, and he offers to sit back while she does so. Tony agrees she’ll at least have to say hi to people, but she doesn’t much want to hang out with them. She vaguely explains that she came to Travemünde to “get away” from something. Her vagueness piques Morten’s interest, but Tony trails off without clarifying. Morten says there’s something important he wants to say to her, but it can wait. Tony offers to introduce Morten to her friends, but he says he’s happy to wait off to the side.
Tony makes it clear that she much prefers Morten’s company to that of the wealthy families who vacation at Travemünde. These are her peers, but she doesn’t seem to relate to them. Her admission that she has come to Travemünde to get away from something clearly refers to Grünlich, and it’s notable that she doesn’t mention her spurned would-be fiancé to Morten. Why does she hold back this bit of information?
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Themes
Tony ventures off toward the Möllendorpfs’ pavilion. The Hagenströms greet Tony coldly when she approaches, but the others are exceedingly polite. When Tony explains that she’s only staying in Travemünde a short while, Frau Hagenström quietly remarks to Frau Möllendorpf, “Don’t you think, my dear, that the Buddenbrooks are just a bit too exclusive?” Tony discreetly nods at a sad-looking Morten as she passes him.
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