Lust Leads to Death in Mann's Death in Venice

Can lust lead to your death bed? Aschenbach is known as the main character in the novel “Death in Venice.” He grew up in a rich background where he had the fame, wealth and money. Aschenbach was born the son of a career civil servant in the justice ministry, while his mother was the daughter of a music director. Aschenbach had his life planned out; he was very accurate and organized. Even in his youth, he set out a goal for himself. He envision to live an old age and to continue to produce great literature. “He was practically still in high school when he made a name for himself. Ten years later he learned how to keep up appearances to manage his fame from his writing desk to produce gracious and significant sentences for his necessarily brief letters”. (Mann, 2004, p.1844). Achenbach was certainly an artist; one can describe him as being perfect. However being portrayed as perfect, was far from the truth. Aschenbach was very ambitious. From the beginning he wanted to become known, to become famous, and even though he was, his life was filled with emptiness from the inside. At the beginning of chapter one, he was lost in a trance when he encountered with a red hair man in the chapel. “He is moderately tall, thin, clean shaven and strikingly snub nosed” As Aschenbach described him. (Mann, 2004, p.1841). it was pretty obvious that he was closely examining the gentleman, a man who is indeed a stranger to him. The encounter with the gentleman leads him into a sudden desire for travel to foreign lands. He desired a change of pace, for adventure and unpredictability of what might come. He was afraid of breaking out; nonetheless, he was also afraid of being trapped. With the sudden desire on his mind, he decided to take a brief vacatio...

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... close to Tadzio became his only desire. The power of lust he possessed for Tadzio is so powerful that he is willing to stay in Venice putting his own life in jeopardy. From here on, you can get a moral sense that the lust he possessed for Tadzio will lead to his own death bed. In the long run on the novel, it certainly did. As their eyes finally met, Aschenbach heads sinks down upon his chest, but in his mind, he thought he smiled and beckon. It wasn’t until after several minutes before anyone rush to his aid, they then carried him to his room and later that same day they announced to the world of his death. So in conclusion, to answer my question Lust can indeed lead to your death bed. Take Ashchenbach for example, his lust for Tadzio was so powerful that it sent him to his death bed.

Works Cited

Mann, Thomas. (2004). Death in Venice. New York: HarperCollins.