Death and its Significance

A detailed Summary of Death and its Significance

Death, a very dominant theme in literature, but what significance do references to death provide in a story. Why is death used in so many of the pieces of literature we read? The Answer; references to death play a very important part in a story, they can help advance the plot, they provide an atmosphere they contribute to the setting of the story, and many times they help readers predict what is going to happen in the story. Foreshadowing, something that is almost always related to a reference to death. Foreshadowing can be a very useful device as we will see in this essay. The two stories that will be analyzed in this essay are; Death in Venice and Mario and the Magician both of which are written by Thomas Mann. This essay will attempt to analyze how death is presented in both these stories, what role does death play, and how death plays a major role in the development of the story.

Death in Venice, a novella written by Mann in 1912; a story which was largely inspired by Mann's own personal experiences, the story is basically about a writer named Aschenbach who has always held his passions in check, never allowing them expression either in his life or in his work. He was what many will call "repressed

The scene where Aschenbach is lost in the alleyways of Venice represents a lost soul, a person who has no direction he is confused. The last scene where Tadzio is seen pointing towards the sea represents a transferring to the afterlife. In Death in Venice, death as I have shown plays a very important role in plot advancement and in the development of the main character, as readers we should be able to pick up all the imagery and foreshowing. It is Mann's way of telling us what is going to happen in the whole story.

In chapter 3 we are introduced to more references to death. Aschenbach at this point is traveling to the Adriatic islands, but finds it rainy. Ten days after that he decided to head to Venice, Aschenbach finds the sky over Venice to be heavy with clouds, making it appear to him as a "Different Venice". Soon after Aschenbach steps in to the gondola that will take him on the next part of his journey; the black boat is likened to a coffin and linked with death. As he sits in the gondola, he realizes that driver of the gondola is steering outwards to the sea, and not towards the port which Aschenbach wants to go. Imagery of death can be seen again here, the driver driving out towards the sea could represent a journey towards the afterlife, towards an underworld of some sort. The dark skies of Venice are a foreshadowing of what is to come. The next morning as Aschenbach is in his hotel he finds the sky's still thick and the air heavy and he recalls a similar situation in Venice where he fell ill due to this sort of weather. As he leaves his hotel for a walk Aschenbach finds a suffocating wind of hot air, he realizes that his health is in danger and decides to leave Venice. He does not leave due to his attraction to the boy he has just seen Tadzio. This is a point where we can see Aschenbach has let his feelings and emotions out, he has lost his sense of mentality, and he remains in Venice even though he knows his health is in danger. Tadzio leads him to abandon all his morals and dignity. Aschenbach finds out that an epidemic has sprea

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Approximate Word count = 1386
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels