Death in Venice

Death in Venice

The novel “Death in Venice” focuses on a love affair between Aschenbach, who is on holiday, an aspect which he has taken quite a lot of time before indulging in. In this nature, this feels like a great experience that has taken so much time. Aschenbach is repressed, and stodgy, which can all be described by his situation and his feelings (Gale, 2016). The crafting of the book depicts that he is out looking for an artistic inspiration that would probably work on his side to rekindle his life and dry emotions. The focus of the book is more to Tadzio, who is a young man about 14 years of age, naive and unaware of his settings.

Tadzio becomes the obsession of the old man who has a strong belief that he can be an ideal partner. The old man looks more obsessed with Tadzio as opposed to being in love with him. This is a great experience for Tadzio, who has never had such an experience when it comes to love. Aschenbach is seen to be a strong personality who is dignified, hardworking, and an advocate of morality. These are strong aspects that are seen to come into play when love is discussed  (Gale, 2016).  The interactions of Aschenbach are seen to greatly influence his life because this drastically changes how he sees and thinks of himself. The people around him make it easy for him to change his approach in matters related to love and relationship.

A deeper observation in the behaviors of Aschenbach reveals that he is more obsessed with the process of being in love as opposed to the young boy. According to Sax (2015), Aschenbach is more inclined to the youthful days he experienced and the beauty that comes with that as opposed to the sexual characteristics of Tadzio. During the situation when he is in a boat into Venice, he is able to spot a group of young men and among them an older man; and he acknowledges, “One of the party…was no youth at all. He was an old man, beyond a doubt, with wrinkles crow’s-feet around the eyes and mouth; the dull carmine of the cheeks was rouge, the brown hair a wig…It is evident that love is a core part of Aschenbach going by the way he thinks and views love. Love has been displayed as a core part that significantly affects the outlook of Aschenbach  (Gale, 2016).

Aschenbach has his neck shrunken and sinewy, which are all attributes picked from his thought of the possible love affair with Tadzio. His turned mustaches and unbroken yellow teeth were all seen to be affected by the “relationship” he desired to have with Tadzio (Sax, 2015). It is evident that Tadzio has several instances where he is disgusted by the habits of the older man. It is also funny that he is disgusted with himself in equal measure. In some cases, he is out trying to get a makeover, probably with the belief that he is going to restore his youth. Later on, he understands that he has no right to judge as he is just like him. More like an old man trying to be young.

Based on the analysis, it all makes him pitiable because a lot is involved. His work would probably have been different than our world if he didn’t desire those of the same sex. There is a great case where he loses his inhibitions due to his perusal of the boy and his decline. There is strong evidence that despite all these aspects, Tadzio and Aschenbach are seen to be greatly influenced by the love affair and relationships going in between them. The world he lived in was a representation of a unique world that could not be understood by others (Gale, 2016).

His passion and love are understood as “cholera,” which at the time was a killer disease. Cholera wiped other parts of the population, which is likened to life and passion. Love and passion are seen to be entrenched in Aschenbach, who has a crazy love and obsession with Tadzio. In this analogy, cholera is seen to weaken those affected by it, more like Aschenbach is seen to be affected by the love of Tadzio. In essence, love is comparable to cholera in many ways because of the characteristics that cut across it. According to Gale (2016), love weakens the culprits, which, too, can be seen to happen to those affected by cholera.

Finally, in the novel, Aschenbach is able to find out about cholera and has even the thoughts of warning Tadzio’s family, but he is egocentric to tell them of cholera because he felt that they might take Tadzio away. This is a strong obsession that cannot be compared to anything else. Despite the understanding that Tadzio might die because of cholera, the obsession cannot allow him to let go, and he doesn’t care. Funny, he is seen running around the city eating strawberries and dreaming about Plato aspects, which are better likened to love and obsession (Gale, 2016).

It is also symbolism that love could be likened to cholera, which is a killer disease at the time. The question of whether love could have killed as cholera did is a strong aspect of symbolism that has been used well in the novel. Love weakens; cholera weakens, which happened to him (Sax, 2015). It is, however, not easy to comprehend if his death was more caused by cholera or love. Uncontrolled passion can kill, which could have happened to Aschenbach or even triggered his death in several ways. The pleasure he takes in Tadzio’s love is in understanding that he had a part to play in the life of Tadzio. The fact that Aschenbach is seen as proper, virtuous, and dignified are aspects that clearly come out well at the mention of cholera. Aschenbach is a successful man who speaks his mind in a clear way (Sax, 2015). Additionally, it is not obvious that cholera was the disease that took him away. Of course, for such a man of dignity, cholera was the least of the expectations.

`In essence, Tadzio seemed to suffer more as compared to Aschenbach. Suffering is seen more because, in several ways, he did not understand the goals of Aschenbach, or still his motives (Sax, 2015). Unclear motives can haunt a person for a long time, and this probably happened to Tadzio. Tadzio even suffered because Aschenbach because of the cholera outbreak as well as the impact it might had on his life. It is evident that a lot was expected of him.

In the ladder of love theory, love is seen to be in three types. The ladder of love has rungs with each representing love, especially from the context of pure attraction going towards the psychological one. Based on “Death in Venice,” it is evident that the love between Aschenbach and Tadzio started as very physical and towards the end of the novel as psychological as more than physical feelings were involved. The theory works quite well with the example of Tadzio and Aschenbach and the impact it had on their lives (Sax, 2015).

References

Gale, C. L. (2016). A Study Guide for Thomas Mann’s” Death in Venice.” Gale, Cengage             Learning.

Sax, B. (2015). Death in Venice (MAXNotes Literature Guides). Research & Education, Assoc.