# Banter. Viaticum. Interrupted Mirth explained — The Magic Mountain

> Chapter companion for The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

## What happens

Hans Castorp and Joachim walk after breakfast. Hans lights a cigar and extols its virtues, revealing his dependency. They discuss Hofrat Behrens's blunt manner with a dying patient, which Hans finds shockingly irreverent. Their conversation is interrupted by a group of guests, including Hermine Kleefeld, who emits a strange, hollow whistle from her pneumothorax as she passes Hans, startling him.

## Themes in this chapter

### Disease and Death

Central discussion of a patient's death, Behrens's irreverent command to 'not behave like that,' and Hans's insistence on the sacredness of the dying. The pneumothorax whistle is a direct, unsettling manifestation of disease.

### Spiritual and Intellectual Degeneration

Hans's admitted 'flabby-minded' dependency on tobacco as a crutch for existence, and the casual, almost frivolous atmosphere surrounding the serious matter of death and illness.

### Isolation and Community

The fleeting, mocking interaction with the group of guests highlights the peculiar, insular social dynamics of the sanatorium, where illness creates both bonds and bizarre jokes.

## Character check-ins

### Hans Castorp

Reveals deep dependency on tobacco; is shocked by Behrens's treatment of the dying; is startled and confused by Hermine Kleefeld's whistle.

### Joachim Ziemssen

Walks with his cousin, explains Behrens's actions and identifies Hermine Kleefeld's pneumothorax as the source of the whistle.

### Hofrat Behrens

Discussed indirectly; his blunt, commanding treatment of a dying patient who 'wouldn't die' is recounted by Joachim.

### Hermine Kleefeld

Passes by in a group; whistles hollowly from her pneumothorax, startling Hans Castorp as a joke.

### Frau Stöhr

Mentioned as the source (the 'Directress') of the story about Behrens and the dying patient.

## Key lines

> 'Do me the favour not to behave like that,' he said to him; and the patient became quite calm and died as quietly as you please.

Behrens bluntly commands a dying man to stop making a scene, and the man complies and dies peacefully.

_Illustrates Behrens's authoritarian medical manner and the chapter's stark confrontation with death._

> I insist that a dying man is above any chap that is going about and laughing and earning his living and eating his three meals a day. It isn’t good enough.

Hans passionately argues that a dying person possesses a sacred status that surpasses that of the healthy living.

_Highlights Hans's romantic, almost religious view of death, contrasted with the sanatorium's clinical reality._

> She whistled out of her inside as she passed... That was Hermine Kleefeld, she whistles with her pneumothorax.

A girl emitted a strange whistle from her chest; Joachim explains it comes from a surgical lung collapse (pneumothorax).

_A jarring, physical manifestation of disease used for social jest, blurring lines between suffering and humor._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magic_mountain_se/chapters/banter-viaticum-interrupted-mirth
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magic_mountain_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magic_mountain_se/chapters