The Art of Losing Yourself

If only Gustav had seen this

One of the most popular themes that our Travel Fictions course has covered so far has been the omnipresent search for meaning that all travelling protagonists seem to be searching for. In Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, however, the protagonist, Gustav von Aschenbach, seems not so much to be searching for meaning or depth in his life, but using his travels as an avoidance technique in which he literally engulfs himself in a fantasy in order to escape from reality. We have seen other characters use travel as a way to run away from a problem like in The Sheltering Sky, but what sets these two books apart is the intentions behind the escape. Port and Kit run away from their responsibilities, but this is done in order to save their relationship and find deeper meaning in an uncertain world. Gustav von Aschenbach is simply avoiding the end of his life.

No one wants to die, but Gustav feels death coming. He does not know how long it will be until he dies, but he does know that he will never again make it back to Venice and that he is currently living out his last vacation. I think this is possibly the most depressing thought ever. Vacations are usually relaxing times that one looks forward to and uses to mark the passing of time. So what happens when you know that you will never again make it outside of your own little world? It is symbolic of losing all hope. To never again be able to look forward to something is equally as horrifying as death itself. It is this feeling of imminent death and the loss of hope in one’s life that Gustav feels he must escape from.

Gustav is pretty old at the beginning of the novel. He has had many years in which to search for the meaning of life, and one gets the sense that meaning is not something with which he is particularly interested. His obsession is apparent, however, in his attempts to immerse himself in his worship of young Tadzio. Gustav chooses to lose himself and reality in his fantasies of Tadzio, and life loses any meaning it may have previously had when all his energies are refocused on the boy. By channeling all of his energy into stalking his “love”, Gustav completely loses all sense of self. He is no longer an old man, but simply the lover of a young one. Gustav loses touch with reality.  Many have debated the age old question of "what is reality?", but I think most of us will agree that Gustav has little grasp on the concept.  However, reality is a theme that is played with in Death until it is unclear to even the reader what is true and what is in Gustav's head.  Multiple times, Gustav believes that Tadzio understands his longings and feels the same, but it is never determined if these are real or figments of imagination in the mind of a crazy old manHe dyes his hair and wears make-up in order to make himself feel younger and in so doing, creates a false self in which he can further escape reality. It is as if the deeper he immerses himself in the fantasy, the less his real life resembles reality. He becomes unrecognizable, even to himself. Gustav von Aschenbach is the foil of most of the protagonists of whom we have read thus far because his life loses meaning the more he travels rather than gaining it.

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