Previous
Part 6, Chapter 10
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
Thomas suggests Tony and Erika relax around the house—secretly, he hopes that Tony will change her mind once she calms down and has some time to think. But Tony gets straight to work, sending a letter to Christian’s lawyer friend Gieseke to request his presence at Meng Strasse. Gieseke visits and, to Tony’s disappointment, informs her that neither Permaneder’s affair nor the insulting word he called Tony constitute legal grounds for divorce. She sends him away and instructs Thomas to write to Permaneder to request a divorce. Even if Permaneder refuses to consent to a legal divorce, Tony still has some rights, and in any case she wants Permaneder to know that he will never see her again.
As his father did before him, Thomas makes a show of humoring Tony—while secretly hoping she will change her mind and go along with whatever is in the Buddenbrook family’s best interest. Tony, however, remains firm in her decision to divorce Permaneder. She has sacrificed her personal happiness for the sake of her family two times already, and she’s putting her foot down now. Whether Thomas will try to manipulate the situation, as the consul did with Grünlich, or whether he will respect Tony’s wishes remains to be seen.
Active
Themes
Tony’s drama merely adds to Thomas’s many stressors. In addition to running the family business, he also must deal with Christian, whose business in Hamburg is doing poorly and who has written to request some more money. Meanwhile, Christian’s cavorting in Hamburg is well known among their circle. He’s been spending a lot of time with a woman named Aline Puvogel, and he’s not her only merchant suitor.
Unsurprisingly, Christian’s latest business venture in Hamburg is a flop. Though he resides in a new city, he is the same Christian he was in Lübeck, burning through his family’s money and bringing shame to the Buddenbrook name by associating with a woman of questionable reputation. The harder Thomas works to keep him afloat, the deeper Christian sinks into decadence and immorality.
Active
Themes
Thomas gets some unexpected good news when Permaneder replies to Thomas’s letter to say that he consents to a divorce. He even agrees to restore her dowry. With that, Dr. Gieseke takes over Tony’s divorce proceedings. When the divorce is finalized, Tony updates the family papers.
