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Part 1, Chapter 4
Themes
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
Dinner carries on, and the men discuss politics. Johann praises Napoleon’s “personal greatness,” but the consul disagrees: he and his younger generation can’t justify supporting such a brutal tyrant. Pastor Wunderlich thinks the consul is exaggerating, but the consul stands firm: his Christian values won’t permit him to praise such a man. At this, Johann and Wunderlich smile in amusement. Then Johann admonishes today’s culture, which values “[t]rade schools and technical schools” over “classical education.”
The older men’s skepticism toward (and rather patronizing disregard for) the consul’s political opinions continues the theme of generational divide. Johann’s condemnation of “classical education” and praise for “[t]rade schools and technical schools” reflects his worldview, pointing toward his negative view of the arts and humanities as self-indulgent and a waste of time. His worldview firmly aligns with a so-called Protestant ethic, which values honest, hard work and strict self-discipline.
Themes
Meanwhile, Madame Kröger goes on about the best way to poach fish. Someone mentions a time they visited a large garden the Buddenbrooks own outside Burg Gate, and Johann laments how unkempt it was at the time. The consul mocks his father for being so obsessive about nature, of all things. Johann insists that if he owns something, he has every right to tend to it as he sees fit.
Food in the novel symbolizes greed and decadence, so Madame Kröger’s commentary on the best methods of poaching fish—commentary she makes as she eats an entirely different meal—suggest her indulgence. The consul teases his father about being overly concerned about the family’s overgrown garden, but the exchange gets at a deeper truth about Johann’s character and values, namely that he feels driven and entitled to shape the world and its resources to fit his high standards of greatness and refinement.
Themes
