Aschenbach was educated at home and “He had grown up solitary, without comradeship; yet had early been driven to see that he belonged to those whose talent is not so much out of the common as is the physical basis on which talent relies for its fulfillment” (Mann, 9) This belief system is the backbone of the emotional issues that he attains as an adult. Because of his workaholic lifestyle, he didn’t have much of a childhood, void of friends and close interaction. He is purely physical in his life and effort and in the overview of the story in Sparknotes, the reviewer notes Aschenbach is “achieving his successes by sheer force of will. Yet the fact that he has lived his entire life without really acknowledging his more impulsive side indicates potential future problems.” (Sparknotes) He has learned to repress his emotional side by working harder and harder. This is reminiscent of the character in the story ‘The Rocking Horse Winner’ who believes that only hard work can achieve success. This character, like Aschenbach, also suffers great consequences due to repressed feelings and obsession.
Aschenbach is also a product of his homeland Germany, where artists are perceived as being “too stiff, too restrained, too cerebral to create truly great art.” (Sparknotes) He is not reminiscent about his dead wife or his daughter. They are dismissive to his intellect and he doesn’t give them much further thought. In addition, he possesses a strong admiration of St. Sebastian, as noted in an article on object relations, “who repudiated desire in favor of self control” (Zlotnick-Woldenberg). He is holding his passions in check.
When Aschenbach decides to take a holiday, his emotional senses are perhaps beginning to rise for the first time in his life. One night, while out for a walk, he notices a red-haired man at the cemetery, which stirs in him an impulse to travel to somewhere opposite of where he now is. He acknowledges to himself that the time that he spends at his summer home with his servants is rather boring and not much different than his existence at his permanent home. It’s not really a vacation, but just a change of scenery but the same old day-to-day activities. He first decides on the Adriatic but this is too dreary and soon settles upon Venice.
It is in Venice that Aschenbach notices the youthful Tadzio at the resort at dinner. Though Aschenbach never speaks to Tadzio he feels he knows a great deal about the boy, that he is special and compares him to Greek sculpture and Eros, the Greek God of love when he notices him a second time at breakfast. He notices that Tadzio is not dressed uniformly like his sisters and doesn’t possess their “uniform expression” (Mann, 25) Aschenbach feels renewed and begins to write at the beach and his physical side takes over. However, he soon stops writing “not wanting to miss the diversions of the scene before him whenever Tadzio passes by” (Sparknotes). This is the beginning of Aschenbach’s emotional side overtaking his physical side. “At first, Aschenbach believes he can admire this beauty dispassionately, from a purely intellectual, aesthetic standpoint.” (Sparknotes) Aschenbach is in denial that his emotional side is even present.
While taking a stroll through the streets of Venice, Aschenbach feels ill and decides that he must leave Venice and go where the air is better. He makes arrangements to depart but soon learns that his luggage has been lost and he should stay in Venice to await their return. Aschenbach is renewed with vigor with this news. He can continue to see Tadzio each day. At the moment where he is told he should stay, Aschenbach has reached the crossroad of life. His decision to stay is entirely emotionally based and begins his downfall at a fervent pace. Upon returning to his hotel, his first impulse is to open his windows and find Tadzio walking across the beach, which brings him great joy.
On the beach one day, Aschenbach sees Tadzio and decides he is going to speak to the boy but at the moment of confrontation, retreats. He doesn’t want to ruin his image of Tadzio as being a god of beauty. Often times, we see people who are beautiful but once they begin speaking or acting, they reveal their human imperfections, thus ruining our image. “It seems that the aging lover wishes to retain his illusions and not to know the reality of the boy’s personality.” (Sparknotes)
After the retreated encounter with the boy, Aschenbach’s self-discipline is almost completely removed. His daily tasks such as answering correspondence and reading the newspaper are no longer achieved. He has become restless and sleeps very little. “He now allows all of his energy to be consumed by his feverish emotion.” (Sparknotes) If Tadzio is not at his usual place at that particular time of day, Aschenbach becomes worried and goes out searching for the boy. He has become fully obsessed.
As the midpoint of the season approaches, Aschenbach notices that the guests at the resort have been dwindling and inquires to a clerk about the cholera that may be luring the guests away. The clerk confirms his suspicions that are being hidden by the city officials. “Aschenbach realizes with a kind of horror that if Tadzio were to leave, Aschenbach would not be able to go on living.” (Sparknotes) It is because of this that Aschenbach does not inform Tadzio’s mother about the cholera. “Mann’s use of the cholera epidemic is devastating: not only will Aschenbach risk his own life to keep alive the hope that his desire might be satisfied, but he is willing to keep his knowledge to himself and thereby risk his young love’s life as well” (Moses)
Aschenbach becomes ashamed of his old body and goes to the barber, who dyes his hair and applies make-up to help him look young. He wants to look good for Tadzio. Because of everyone talking about the cholera, he believes that no one will notice his desires for Tadzio and pursues him through the streets of Venice and eventually loses his way. It is here where he eats some overripe strawberries and possible contracts the cholera.
Upon returning to his hotel, Aschenbach learns that Tadzio and his family would be leaving after lunch. Aschenbach immediately goes to the beach and sees Tadzio playing with his friend. Aschenbach sits in his beach chair and admires Tadzio with greater applause than ever. Tadzio and his friend have a little scuttle that upsets Aschenbach but he is helpless as the cholera begins setting in. Tadzio and his friend eventually separate and Aschenbach’s last wakening vision is that of Tadzio standing in the ocean and pointing towards the sky.
Aschenbach never grew up emotionally. His passions were hiding deep within his emotional soul. They began to surface when he first decided that he needed a holiday. His dealings with Tadzio have brought out his emotions via a knife cutting into his soul and releasing them. It wasn’t one specific event as it is with some people with similar circumstances. “As seen in Aschenbach, who begins by rejecting the passionate side of himself in favor discipline and intellect and ends by embracing the passionate, primitive self, totally disregarding moral restraining and discipline.” (Zltonick-Woldenberg)
His feelings were slowly released over the period of the summer holiday, such that he doesn’t notice them and is thus unable to control or acknowledge them. His defense mechanisms, based purely on working harder and harder to resolve the issue in his mind kick in and he gets into a loop of sorts of which he is unable to get himself out of. His thoughts and longings have led him to obsessions where he feels that he can work himself out of but in doing so, ignores everything else around him, most importantly the cholera that takes his life without even his noticing. He has not lived a balanced existence and thus lives dangerously on both sides of the scale.
Perhaps, if Aschenbach had close friends or family to support him, he would have received help in noticing what was happening to him and possibly not have suffered such dire consequences. His need to be alone and achieve autonomy through only his work is his true downfall.
Works Cited
Mann, Thomas, Death in Venice.: New York, Vintage International Edition, 1989
Moses, David C, “A profound novel about art, beauty and love” (10/15/2004) (http://www.amazon.com)
Sparknotes. Death in Venice URL: http//www.Sparknotes.com (10/8/04)
Zlotnick-Woldenberg, Carrie. “An object-relational interpretation of Thomas Mann’s ‘Death in Venice.’” American Journal of Psychotherapy Fall 97, Vol. 51 Issue 4, p452, 10p
