Sacrifice and Sacrament in Der Zauberberg

Abstract

The theme of death, prominent in Der Zauberberg, finds a memorable and shocking expression in Hans Castorp's snow vision, where he enters a temple and finds two old women devouring a child. Commentators have mostly interpreted this scene as a philosophical allegory of cosmic suffering, inspired by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and suggested to Mann by the legend of Dionysus. These interpretations ignore both the brutal vividness of the scene and its Northern European connotations. Its associations with witchcraft, cannibalism, and human sacrifice are explored, with particular reference to texts by Heine and Nietzsche with which Mann was familiar and where such images occur. As a malign sacrifice, the scene is also connected to two other parodic sacrifices in the novel: the blood-libel for which Naphta's father was crucified, and the vegetarian Communion celebrated by the Dionysiac figure of Peeperkorn.