The family of Thomas Mann tangled with cursed from the generation to generation. Isn’t it strange when suicides happen in the last two generations along with the strong sign of homosexuality in the family. Thus, it is difficult to believe that the father was in love with his son. It was the Mann who stated the relation between Thomas and his elder son, Klaus.
Mann, born to Raman catholic mother, Julia Da Silva Bruhns (German Brazilian writer) as a Paul Thomas Mann (6 Jun 1875 – 12 Aug 1955) in the family of senator, Johann Heinrich Mann. A tall, in the gable house of the narrow streets. His grandfather, Johann Siegmund Mann Jr, was a counsellor, all his entire life sick. The family was living close to the shore of Lübeck, Germany. Thomas received a Nobel Prize in literature in the year 1929 for his novel Buddenbrooks. The novel was first published in 1901, however, his another novel “the magic mountain” was widely read. It was published in 1924.
It is the whole Germany who is witness to the family of Mann and their generations. Furthermore, it is true that the family cursed with suicide from their all the generations. In fact, the family members were mostly writers, some of them and their writings dedicated to deaths of their family members.
It is love, not reason, that is stranger than death.
Thomas Mann
The son of Thomas Mann, Klaus committed suicide at the age of 42 due to overdose of sleeping pills. Therefore, upon hearing the sad news of his son, Thomas Mann said,
“Everything has becomes worrisome. My sorrow along with his mother is great. He should not have done of such a thing.”
Through the writings, the family, or Thomas Mann, failed to explain the deep-rooted seed of the family conflict of the past generation. German author, Marianne Krull spoke about the Mann family, “This is the family where suicide found in all the generation. Both of his sisters committed suicide and no one is sure about it. The suicide of Carla, his brother Heinrich and his sisters had also seen but vague. However, their writings are also devoted to death and suicidal events in their stories. Therefore, their next generation, Klaus, took his life along with Michael. Thus, everyone has questions that what is roots of these? Perhaps the tragic story of the mother.”
In his book, Buddenbrooks, Thomas Mann named his house “Bourgelis family”, where he tried to portray the family drama. His biographer, Ronald Hayman, British critic and renowned for his biographical works, stated that his grandfather was sick in his entire life. He was a counsellor who had married to Elisabeth Marthy, his second wife, who was a rich widow.
Thomas Mann as a child completed his schooling in boarding school, along with his siblings, Thomas used to visit home occasionally on weekends to visit grandparents. The kids never allowed to cross the wall of the house without their permission. Such a lifelong desire of the kids used to had were denied from their early days. Furthermore, read suicidal poet Amy Levy and her poem “A London Plane-Tree”
