The Magic Mountain

The last chapter is “Thunderbolt.” What is the thunderbolt that makes Hans Castorp leave the Magic Mountain after all those years?

Hans Castorp has become an isolated young man, separated from his family in the flatlands. He becomes a victim of habit, fully embracing the rest cure as he moves from table to table in the dining room during the seven years he lives in the Berghoff sanitorium. He develops his own ideas after being bombarded by the intellectual arguments between Settembrini and Naphta. But in the end WWI breaks out and Hans Castorp leaves to join the German Army. The last scene we find him falling down in a field surrounded by dead bodies. What exactly is the reason he leaves, gives up everything he has been searching for, only to give up his life on the battlefield?

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Last updated by Jill W
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In Chapter Seven, Hans attends a séance in which Joachim Ziemssen's ghost appears. Hans whispers, "I'm sorry", to Joachim, takes the key to unlock the door, and leaves the room.

Years later, Settembrini challenges Naphta to a duel. Settembrini fires his pistol into the air... Naphta puts his pistol to hia head and takes his own life.

These two events can be considered "thunderbolts" though Hans still remains at Berghof for another seven years, during which time, he becomes even more isolated and disinterested. He no longer wites letters, Behrens ignores him and Settembrini is ill.

In the end, Hans leaves Berghof like so many others, but not because he is trying to escape the war, but rather, because he decides to take Joachim's place and fight for his country. He has learned that real spiritual "becoming" is as much a matter of suffering as of doing....

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The Magic Mountain

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