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Advanced Professional Papers · The History of the English Language · First Internship: Tutoring in a Writing Workshop · Second Internship: Advanced Instruction: Tutoring Writing
Visual Literacy Seminar (A First Course in Methodology) · Theories of Communication & Technology (A Second Course in Methodology) · Language in Society (A Third Course in Methodology)
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Analysis of Literary Language Essay 2 · Analysis of Literary Language Essay 2a · Analysis of Literary Language Essay 3
Analysis of Literary Language Essay 4 · A Brief Analysis of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" · An Analysis of my Own Writing during the Semester
Thomas Mann reveals his own disgust and repulsion towards aging through the use of imagery in his novel Death in Venice. Mann expresses his viewpoint through the eyes and mind of Gustav Aschenbach as Gustav observes the process of aging in people he encounters and observations of his own aging process. The language Mann uses in building the images of aging leave one with doubt about how he is repulsed by the process.
Thomas Mann reveals his own disgust and repulsion towards aging through the use of imagery in his novel Death in Venice. Mann expresses his viewpoint through the eyes and mind of Gustav Aschenbach as Gustav observes the process of aging in people he encounters and through observations of his own aging. The language Mann uses in building the images of aging leaves one with doubt about how he is repulsed by the process.
Beginning with the passage, "And now, most of all, when his life was slowly approaching its close..." right up to the last sentence ending with, "...where he spent the rainy summers," Gustav Aschenbach is internally reflecting on the fact that, at age fifty, he understands his days on earth are numbered (4). This fact generates fear within him for he may not be able to release all the creative juices that still reside in him. Mann describes Aschenbach's deep-rooted fear 'as a mere fancy he can no longer dismiss.' The villa is a metaphorical sanctuary or a place to wait for God, as the days of his life wind down or what he terms, "the rainy days." Mann continues to reinforce this idea on page four, when Gustav remembers that he is determined to finish the book he is "living for" before he moves to the county which infers that his move to the county is to prepare for his death. Aschenbach states his "growing weariness, which no one must know about and which his writings must not reveal in any way,..." demonstrates his shame of his own aging process. Clearly, Mann is describing his own fears of death and disgust for aging through Aschenbach's thoughts.
Mann continues on page five describing Aschenbach's fear of going to the summer cottage in the passage, "He was afraid of the summer in the country... once again surround his discontented dullness." The images of Aschenbach's servants parallel hospice care for the elderly in modern times. When one goes to hospice care it's usually because they can no longer take care of themselves. When one can no longer care of themselves usually one is one step away from death.
Mann states that when the physical body begins to deteriorate so does one's talents. He illustrates his viewpoint in the passage on page seven where he describes that 'talent is not rare but rather the physical ability to sustain talent is' describes his loathing for the process of aging. Following further with that notion my conjecture is that Mann also believes that the mind, being part of the physical, also becomes useless. Mann believes that when you grow old you also become feeble.
Mann's best description for his repulsion by the aging process is revealed in Gustav's observations of an old Polish man masquerading as a youthful man. On page thirteen Mann describes Aschenbach's observations and impressions through descriptive language. Aschenbach describes the man's voice as "squawky" which induces images of a hen's sounds after she lays an egg, which is not a flattering depiction of someone's voice. Gustav notes the wrinkles around the Pole's eyes and mouth and describes his neck as "scraggy and sinewy." The word "sinewy" is usually associated with cuts of beef that are stringy and tough and the word "scraggy" is synonymous with the word rough. Mann reveals Gustav's reactions to aging through language such as "repugnance" and "feeling of horror," describing Mann's own thoughts on aging. Accenting Mann's repulsion to aging he illustrates Aschenbach's reaction to his observation through his body language. He reveals to us that, "Aschenbach covered his forehead with his hand and closed his eyes," illustrating the fact that Gustav and Mann would prefer to erase these images somehow from their minds. The desire to remove these images supports the point that the aging process repulses Mann.
Aschenbach's last encounters with the old Pole reflect Mann's desires to somehow get away from the process of aging. Gustav "finds it impossible to escape the importunities of the horrible old man" expressing his wishes that somehow he could slip away more quickly down to the awaiting gondolas unencumbered by his luggage (Mann, 1995, p.15-16). Mann is expressing his own desire to escape the aging process. The last straw for Aschenbach is when the upper denture of the now drunken old Pole falls out from his jaw onto his lower lip. Mann describes Aschenbach as being 'able to get away' asserting the fact that Mann is obviously repulsed by old age in this passage and his character is literally running for the turnstiles in shock and horror.
Mann is clearly quite open about how he is repulsed by the aging process and expresses his repulsion through numerous illustrations throughout his story as Aschenbach encounters old people. Considering that Thomas Mann died at age eighty in 1955 and wrote this story when he was thirty-seven it would be interesting to know if he still thought this way when he reached sixty or seventy. In addition, if Mann was born in the later half of the 20th century when many people do not think of themselves as old at age sixty and seventy, would his impressions of aging been the same or different.
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