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Part 4, Chapter 5
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
Grünlich and Kesselmeyer leave the room to go speak in private. When Tony hears the men’s voices grow loud and angry, she steps over to eavesdrop. Kesselmeyer demands to know if there’s anyone other than Consul Buddenbrook who might offer Grünlich a loan. When the Buddenbrooks were doing well, they could vouch for Grünlich. Now, the firm is “shaky” financially—and Grünlich is in even worse shape. Grünlich insists the bank has given him an extension, but Kesselmeyer thinks he’s lying. He orders Grünlich to write Consul Buddenbrook now to ask for a loan—Kesselmeyer will wait one week. If Consul Buddenbrook won’t help Grünlich, Grünlich will just have to file for bankruptcy.
Tony’s eavesdropping sheds light on the reason for Grünlich’s suspicious behavior, like not wanting Tony to be anywhere near his workplace in the city. It seems that he is not as wealthy or successful as he made himself out to be when he was courting Tony—and it seems that he’s been more dependent on her family’s wealth and connections. Kesselmeyer’s warning to Grünlich indicates that Grünlich has been in financial trouble for a long time and that this is the last straw.
Active
Themes
Kesselmeyer leaves. Grünlich exits the smoking room to find Tony standing in the adjacent room, staring baldly at him. “What are you staring at?” Grünlich snarls, then he pushes past her, his face “splotched with red, as if he had scarlet fever.”
Active
Themes
