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Part 7, 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
It’s August now, and Thomas and Bethsy are in the middle of a heated argument. Clara died only 10 days after Thomas delivered the letter from Tiburtius to Bethsy. In a message to Bethsy that Clara enclosed in Tiburtius’s letter, she pleaded for Bethsy to let Tiburtius have what would have been Clara’s inheritance. The couple had no children, and she at least wants her husband to be comfortable after she has died. Bethsy decided to honor her dying daughter’s wishes—and Thomas is furious that Bethsy didn’t consult with him first. Tony acts as mediator, pleading with Thomas to calm down. Bethsy defends her choice—and her decision to keep it secret from Thomas. She knew he’d disapprove of Clara’s wish.
Thomas’s anger at Bethsy for honoring Clara’s dying wish comes off as petty and emotionally driven. Money might be tighter than it used to be, but the Buddenbrooks are hardly poor. Moreover, Clara has asked the least of any of her siblings. Whatever money she has asked for Bethsy to leave to her widower in all likelihood pales in comparison to the money Thomas has spent bailing Christian out of his countless bad business decisions. Thomas’s anger at Bethsy is uncharacteristic, though, and it perhaps reflects the tremendous stress he is under as head of the family.
Active
Themes
Thomas accuses Tiburtius of being a “fortune hunter.” Really, though, it’s not Clara’s inheritance that Thomas is upset about—that’s just the latest setback in a series of setbacks that Thomas has suffered in his position in the senate and in his business dealings. And now this: his own mother has gone over his head, making decisions about the family fortune without his consent! Bethsy starts to sob. Tony pleads with Thomas to calm down, but Thomas ignores her.
Active
Themes
