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Part 5, Chapter 3
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
In May, Uncle Gotthold dies of a heart attack at age 60. Over the years—and especially since Thomas transferred the Dutch consulate to him—Gotthold made peace with the Buddenbrook family. But Gotthold’s three spinster daughters have kept “the old family feud” going, refusing to treat Bethsy, Tony, and Thomas civilly. On Thursdays, when the family gathers for dinner, the sisters make snide comments about Tony’s failed marriage. Tony ignores them.
The Buddenbrook family continues to shrink in size when Gotthold dies. What’s more, none of the members of the youngest generation have managed to produce an heir. The pleasure the spinster daughters get from witnessing the suffering of a member of the core Buddenbrook family—in this case Tony—shows that they still resent the family for Goththold’s earlier estrangement and because of the material wealth that estrangement deprived them of, though considerable time has passed.
Active
Themes
Thomas goes to Amsterdam straight away, making it there just in time to say goodbye to his uncle. In his mind, Thomas laments Gotthold’s stubbornness—his unwillingness to follow the rules and make compromises for the sake of the firm. Thomas himself might have married his “shop girl,” but he—unlike Gotthold—recognized that “one must keep up appearances.” With Gotthold’s passing, the Dutch Consulate is now Thomas’s, and in June, he leaves for Amsterdam on business.
Active
Themes
