Buddenbrooks: Part 8, Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

Thomas isn’t happy about Hanno’s growing passion for music. He married Gerda, the musician, because he thought “his tastes were more distinguished” than those of the Buddenbrooks who came before him. And indeed, Thomas has taken great care to refine his tastes, developing his familiarity with and appreciation for the arts. But Thomas has begun to resent how Hanno—his supposed heir—seems to have inherited Gerda’s interests and sensibilities. Hanno was supposed to grow up to inherit the family business, and now this?

Despite his conceited efforts to appreciate music, Thomas has never truly understood it. Gerda has criticized Thomas for precisely this attitude, suggesting that he “will never see [music] as anything more than a little after-dinner treat, dessert for your ears.” Thomas understands Gerda’s point, but that doesn’t make him feel any less resentful as he watches his son and wife enjoy their shared passions—leaving Thomas behind, an outsider. As Hanno commits more and more time to practicing piano, Thomas encourages him to focus on his studies too—but to no avail.

Hanno suffers from frequent toothaches and inflamed gums. His dental issues make it difficult for him to chew his food, which leads to digestive problems. Hanno’s digestive problems lead to lightheadedness and heart issues. He is often in pain. Due in part to his pain, he detests going to school.

The only good thing about going to school for Hanno is his classmate and only real friend, Kai. Count Kai Mölln comes from an aristocratic family, though you’d hardly know it given the boy’s disheveled appearance. Kai has long, thin limbs that are almost gray in color. His strawberry blond hair is usually uncombed, and he has “keen bright blue eyes.” Kai lives with his father, Count Eberhard Mölln, in a dilapidated old farmstead just beyond the Burg Gate. Eberhard is an odd, reclusive man who has left society in order to raise chickens and dogs and garden on his farm. The Möllns were once an important and wealthy family, but now it’s only Kai, his father, and Kai’s eccentric aunt who are still around. Kai’s mother died in childbirth.

Hanno was  initially a bit frightened by Kai’s messy and intense appearance, but they become fast friends, bonding over their similarly melancholy dispositions and their mutual dislike of school. Ida Jungmann accompanies Hanno to visit Kai’s home one day, but she’s put off by its messy state and insists that the boys play at Breite Strasse from that day forward.

Thomas Buddenbrook is happy that Hanno finally has a friend. Meanwhile, their father-son relationship grows increasingly distant. One afternoon, Hanno is lounging around after practicing piano and completing his schoolwork when he finds the family records sitting on Gerda’s writing desk—Thomas must have left them there. Hanno flips through the pages, which are by now yellowed with age. He sees his own name written next to his birthdate. Impulsively, he takes a ruler and pen and draws two horizontal lines across the bottom of the family tree. When Thomas sees it later, he angrily demands an explanation. Hanno admits to drawing the lines. He explains that he only “thought…there wouldn’t be anything more.”