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Part 4, Chapter 9
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
The Buddenbrook household treats Tony and Erika cautiously when they first arrive. Though upset, Tony enjoys being seen as “an innocent victim” of Grünlich’s deceit and manipulation. She also feels closer to Consul Buddenbrook since “he had shown her his human side.”
Tony basks in the attention she receives as “an innocent victim” of Grünlich’s deceit. Still, her improved relationship with the consul also acts as a balm in the wake of this huge life change, reinforcing how important family is to her.
Active
Themes
Grünlich files for bankruptcy, and the consul initiates divorce proceedings for Tony. The divorce is finalized in February of 1850, and Tony immediately documents it in the family records. She knows the divorce leaves a stain on the family legacy, but she hopes she can find a new husband. Consul Buddenbrook reassures her that everything is “in God’s hands.”
Even as her almost religious devotion to her filial duties has brought her such strife, Tony’s dutiful documentation of her divorce in the family records shows that she still values the Buddenbrook family legacy above all else. The consul’s promise that Tony’s future is “in God’s hands” is meant to reassure Tony, but it also conveniently lets him off the hook for pushing her to marry Grünlich in the first place.
Active
Themes
Thomas returns home in August. He’s grown into an “elegant” and capable man, with an “almost military” composure. Even so, he remains rather sickly, with “bluish veins” still visible at his temples. He looks like his grandfather (Johann), and he’s developed a taste for modern literature, which boggles his family.
Active
Themes
Madame Kröger dies at the end of the year, and the Buddenbrooks inherit a large sum of money. Justus Kröger retires. His son Jakob grows up to be a flake and a scoundrel, and his antics in Hamburg embarrass the family greatly (and cost them a lot of money). When Jakob travels to New York, where he has apparently landed a job as a traveling salesman, Justus effectively disowns him.
Active
Themes
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The disappointing state of the Kröger side of the family upsets Consul Buddenbrook and makes him even more anxious about his own children. Christian isn’t all that interested in business and wants to take a position “out there,” somewhere in South America. Consul Buddenbrook decides to see this as temporary “Wanderlust.” Soon, Christian accepts a position in Valparaiso and sets off straight away.
Active
Themes
Tony tries to stay strong in the wake of her divorce, but she’s outraged when Julie Möllendorpf (née Hagenström) apparently snubs her when they cross paths in town one day. Bethsy tries to reassure Tony, but Tony maintains a seething hatred for “this particular ‘upstart family,’” the Hagenströms, with their unjustified sense of superiority. She’s further outraged that the Hagenströms’ business has become quite successful since Hermann took over. Hermann is now married to the daughter of Consul Huneus, “the richest man in town,” and Moritz Hagenström is now a successful lawyer. Sesame Weichbrodt remains a compassionate and supportive friend to Tony. In time, Tony’s marriage to Grünlich seems like a distant dream, and she grows increasingly bored of her monotonous existence at home.
Active
Themes
