# Choler. And Worse explained — The Magic Mountain

> Chapter companion for The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

## What happens

Joachim's departure preparations reach their climax, marked by intense emotional agitation and final farewells. After he leaves, Hans Castorp confronts the anniversary of his own arrival, which is pointedly ignored by the sanatorium's culture. The chapter details the shift to harsh, wintry weather in August and September, and includes a medical examination scene where Hofrat Behrens, in a resigned mood, discusses a recent scandal involving patients Emmy Nolting and Polypraxios, cynically linking disease with concupiscence and recommending mathematics as a cure for lust.

## Themes in this chapter

### Time and Temporality

The ignored arrival anniversary highlights the sanatorium's distorted, cyclical sense of time. Joachim's return to 'real, solid time' in the flat-land contrasts with Hans's fear of being trapped in the eternal present of the mountain.

### Disease and Death

Behrens explicitly links phthisis (tuberculosis) with concupiscence, framing disease as both a physical and moral/spiritual condition. The scandal underscores the intimate, corrupting atmosphere of the sanatorium.

### Isolation and Community

Joachim's departure severs a primary bond, leaving Hans Castorp facing profound isolation. The communal silence on anniversaries is a practiced, delicate form of social cohesion among the 'settled citizens.'

## Character check-ins

### Hans Castorp

Observes Joachim's departure with a mix of empathy and dread, silently confronting the anniversary of his own arrival and the realization that his stay may be permanent.

### Joachim Ziemssen

In a state of heroic, agitated preparation for his departure, filled with joy and dread, taking final leave of the Berghof and its inhabitants.

### Hofrat Behrens

Conducts the monthly examination in a melancholic, resigned mood, discussing a patient sex scandal and cynically linking tuberculosis with concupiscence.

### Dr. Krokowski

Present during the examination, having been involved in the private treatment of the patients involved in the scandal.

### Frau Stöhr

Weeps easily at Joachim's departure but demonstrates the sanatorium's tactical silence by not mentioning Hans Castorp's arrival anniversary.

### Emmy Nolting

Referenced as the central figure in the scandal that has put Behrens in a foul mood; she was sent away after being discovered with Polypraxios.

### Lawyer Paravant

Mentioned by Behrens as a patient who took his advice to study mathematics (squaring the circle) to combat lust, with good results.

## Key lines

> He said how fresh and new the world would seem, himself, all life, and every day, every hour of the time. Once more he would rejoice in real, solid time, the long, vital years of youth.

Joachim anticipates returning to normal, progressive time and the fullness of life in the flat-land.

_Highlights the contrast between sanatorium time and external, linear time._

> The anniversary was not popular. The old inhabitants passed it by without thought... they accorded to the anniversary of arrival no other attention than that of a profound silence.

The community enforces a tacit agreement to ignore the markers of individual time spent in the sanatorium.

_Illustrates the collective denial of personal temporal passage._

> "I tell them that if they will occupy themselves with the study of mathematics they will find in it the best remedy against the lusts of the flesh."

Behrens recommends abstract intellectual pursuit as an antidote to the sexual urges he sees as endemic to the sick environment.

_Shows a cynical, mechanistic approach to managing patient morality and desire._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magic_mountain_se/chapters/choler-and-worse
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magic_mountain_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_magic_mountain_se/chapters