The Magic Mountain
Remember Newton's third law of physics - every action has an equal and opposite reaction? The medical equivalent is - every new chronic disability presents a new opportunity. I have a hard time thinking what opportunity comes with difficult and terminal conditions such as pancreatic cancer and ALS except they usually give the victim time to say good-bye to loved ones and settle one's affairs. But most other, non-rapidly fatal or remitting conditions come with an opportunity. Once we get over the shock at realizing we have an a chronic illness or have lost some function, we have the opportunity to develop a whole new set of skills to compensate for what is lost. Unlike the Newton's law where the equal and opposite reaction always occurs, the new opportunity doesn't always get taken up. We are dealing with human beings here, who have free will, unlike ball bearings who have no free will, thankfully. Some human beings, when faced with the loss of a leg, take to the couch, turn on the TV, open a can of beer and that's that - opportunity missed. Others get a wheelchair and take up wheelchair basketball or get a prosthesis and start jogging.
Hans Castorp, the protagonist in Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain, gets hospitalized with tuberculosis. He loses his opportunity to become a marine engineer but uses his free time in the hospital learning to ski, as well as learning how to live. In my opinion, this simplistic exchange of a lifelong career for a recreational skill summarizes the central theme of this complex and wide-ranging book. Every literary person is moaning at my sophmoric summary of Mann's classic novel. Acquiring an illness or disability often forces a person to reset the central activities of their lives. Hans' illness forced him to leave the lowlands where he was raised and go to live in the high elevation, low oxygen world of the alpine mountain sanatorium. Initially he attempted to hold on to his previous life by reading his textbook on shipbuilding but over time replaced it with books about medicine, anatomy, and botany, subjects that seemed more pertinent to his dilemma, the dilemma we all face: the inevitability of death.
Death was well-known to Hans. He had lost his parents when he was about seven and went to live with his grandfather who died when he was ten. Hans remembers these deaths but doesn't apply these lessons to himself until he is diagnosed with tuberculosis while visiting his cousin who is a patient in the Berghof tuberculosis sanatorium in the Austrian alps. Over time Hans the patient, unlike his cousin who never relinquishes his identity as a soldier, lets go of his career as a marine engineer. Like many young people Hans had chosen a career because he had to do something. Marine engineering never defined his life the way the military defined his cousin's life. So, being left free of duties except to adhere to the curative regime of the hospital, our hero begins to pay attention to the people around him.
Much of the book is dialogue between Hans and the characters Mann has populated the sanatorium with. Many of them symbolize the major philosophic aspects of life: Settembrini is the secular humanist, Naptha is the religious radical, Peepercorn is the wealthy, lover-of-life, Hans' cousin Ziemssen represents man's duty to a cause, and Frau Chauchat is Hans' love interest. As Hans wanders among these engaging and influential characters, he becomes a well-rounded human being, far more interesting and sympathetic than the young pre-engineer we meet at the beginning of the book. His illness has presented him with the opportunity to explore parts of life he has never thought of when he was on the career path in the lowlands. His illness presented him with the opportunity to grow into a well rounded, human being as well as a skier.
I'm guessing that Mann wrote this book to help him sort through the tremendous range of ideas and emotions he presents in this book. Hans begins sending flowers to and visiting the terminally ill patients in the hospital: facing death directly and watching it always win. He listens to Settembrini and Naptha debate life based on rational thought or faith. He is swept away by love of Frau Chauchat and then watches her return in the company of the wealthy and regal Peeperkorn. What Mann is telling us is that sometimes it takes the idleness of illness to slow us down, knock us off our career rails, take off our blinders, and give us the time and motivation to look at man's place in the world. Where we decide we belong is the individual's choice but sometimes a disability gives us the opportunity to look carefully at our choices. I won't tell you where Hans ends up. If you decide to read The Magic Mountain, take your time.
Hans Castorp, the protagonist in Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain, gets hospitalized with tuberculosis. He loses his opportunity to become a marine engineer but uses his free time in the hospital learning to ski, as well as learning how to live. In my opinion, this simplistic exchange of a lifelong career for a recreational skill summarizes the central theme of this complex and wide-ranging book. Every literary person is moaning at my sophmoric summary of Mann's classic novel. Acquiring an illness or disability often forces a person to reset the central activities of their lives. Hans' illness forced him to leave the lowlands where he was raised and go to live in the high elevation, low oxygen world of the alpine mountain sanatorium. Initially he attempted to hold on to his previous life by reading his textbook on shipbuilding but over time replaced it with books about medicine, anatomy, and botany, subjects that seemed more pertinent to his dilemma, the dilemma we all face: the inevitability of death.
Death was well-known to Hans. He had lost his parents when he was about seven and went to live with his grandfather who died when he was ten. Hans remembers these deaths but doesn't apply these lessons to himself until he is diagnosed with tuberculosis while visiting his cousin who is a patient in the Berghof tuberculosis sanatorium in the Austrian alps. Over time Hans the patient, unlike his cousin who never relinquishes his identity as a soldier, lets go of his career as a marine engineer. Like many young people Hans had chosen a career because he had to do something. Marine engineering never defined his life the way the military defined his cousin's life. So, being left free of duties except to adhere to the curative regime of the hospital, our hero begins to pay attention to the people around him.
Much of the book is dialogue between Hans and the characters Mann has populated the sanatorium with. Many of them symbolize the major philosophic aspects of life: Settembrini is the secular humanist, Naptha is the religious radical, Peepercorn is the wealthy, lover-of-life, Hans' cousin Ziemssen represents man's duty to a cause, and Frau Chauchat is Hans' love interest. As Hans wanders among these engaging and influential characters, he becomes a well-rounded human being, far more interesting and sympathetic than the young pre-engineer we meet at the beginning of the book. His illness has presented him with the opportunity to explore parts of life he has never thought of when he was on the career path in the lowlands. His illness presented him with the opportunity to grow into a well rounded, human being as well as a skier.
I'm guessing that Mann wrote this book to help him sort through the tremendous range of ideas and emotions he presents in this book. Hans begins sending flowers to and visiting the terminally ill patients in the hospital: facing death directly and watching it always win. He listens to Settembrini and Naptha debate life based on rational thought or faith. He is swept away by love of Frau Chauchat and then watches her return in the company of the wealthy and regal Peeperkorn. What Mann is telling us is that sometimes it takes the idleness of illness to slow us down, knock us off our career rails, take off our blinders, and give us the time and motivation to look at man's place in the world. Where we decide we belong is the individual's choice but sometimes a disability gives us the opportunity to look carefully at our choices. I won't tell you where Hans ends up. If you decide to read The Magic Mountain, take your time.
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