ABSTRACT
The writing of Der Zauberberg provides both a window onto the tumultuous relationship between Heinrich and Thomas Mann and a vantage point from which to examine the political discussion that was sometimes violently played out on the streets of Weimar. As a storyteller, Thomas Mann's primary concern is how to narrate time if it is so elastic in the first place. The relief that Hans seeks after this pedagogical skirmish echoes Thomas Mann's desire to reconcile with his brother Heinrich. As the snowcapped mountains blend into blue horizons and thick falling snow turns the bright winter sun into a hazy orb, Hans Castorp must travel through conditions that obscure the passage of time. Naptha's derision of liberal humanism's version of freedom brings Settembrini's fists crashing down on the table, charging Naptha with scurrilously undermining the morals and intellectual powers of the innocent Hans.
