The Magic Mountain · Chapter
Arrival explained
Hans Castorp travels from Hamburg to the International Sanatorium Berghof in Davos for a three-week visit to his cousin Joachim Ziemssen.
What happens
Hans Castorp travels from Hamburg to the International Sanatorium Berghof in Davos for a three-week visit to his cousin Joachim Ziemssen. The journey, marked by a profound sense of dislocation and the altering effects of space, culminates in his arrival at the sanatorium. Joachim meets him, and their initial conversation reveals Joachim's changed perspective on time and his uncertain prognosis, hinting at the strange new world Hans is about to enter.
Themes in this chapter
Time and Temporality
Introduced through the disorienting effects of the journey ('Space... wrought by time') and Joachim's declaration that 'three weeks are nothing at all to us up here,' establishing the sanatorium's distortion of conventional time.
Initiation and Education
Hans Castorp, the 'unassuming young man,' is on the threshold of a new world. Joachim begins his 'education' by warning him that he will 'see some things you've never dreamed of' and that 'one's ideas get changed.'
Isolation and Community
Hans's physical and psychological separation from his home and duties ('fathoms deep beneath him') contrasts with his impending entry into the isolated, specialized community of the Berghof, hinted at by the 'most of us up here' carry sputum bottles.
Characters to notice
- Hans Castorp
The young protagonist arriving for a three-week visit. He is initially amused and incredulous about the sanatorium's practices but becomes concerned by the disorienting journey and Joachim's altered state.
- Joachim Ziemssen
Hans's cousin, a lieutenant who has been at the Berghof for five months. He appears robust but speaks with a medical fatalism, warning Hans that time is perceived differently 'up here' and that his own cure is not yet certain.
- Dr. Krokowski
Mentioned by Joachim as the assistant who 'psychoanalyses the patients,' which triggers Hans's fit of laughter, introducing the theme of the sanatorium's unconventional medical practices.
- Hofrat Behrens
Mentioned in passing by Joachim as the authority who has extended his estimated cure time, establishing his role as the chief medical figure.
Key passages
“Space, rolling and revolving between him and his native heath, possessed and wielded the powers we generally ascribe to time.”
The physical journey itself creates a psychological distance and transformation akin to the passage of time.
Highlights the theme of disorientation and the novel's concern with how environment alters perception.
“"Three weeks are nothing at all, to us up here—they look like a lot of time to you, because you are only up here on a visit... Get acclimatized first—it isn't so easy, you'll see."”
Joachim warns Hans that the sanatorium's inhabitants have a radically different, dilated sense of time compared to the 'flatland' perspective.
Establishes the central conflict between Hans's planned short visit and the timeless, suspended reality of the Berghof.
“He half pulled out and showed to his cousin something he carried in the side pocket of his overcoat... It was a flat, curving bottle of bluish glass, with a metal cap. "Most of us up here carry it," he said.”
Joachim displays his sputum bottle, a common accessory among the patients, which they even joke about.
Introduces the mundane, institutionalized aspect of illness and the insular culture of the sanatorium.