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Dr. Behrens
Dr. Krokowski is Behrens’s assistant. He’s a friendly, spirited man in his early 30s. Krokowksi has a passion for psychoanalysis and regularly “dissects the patients’ psyches” in his basement office. He also presents bimonthly lectures with psychoanalytic themes. Fittingly, one of his core theories is that physical illness is symptomatic of repressed negative thoughts. Krokowski has extremely pale skin, dark eyes, and a long black beard, and he dresses all in black, giving him an ominous appearance. Indeed, Settembrini mockingly calls Krokowski “Minos,” the mythological King of Crete who sent seven young girls and seven young boys into Daedalus’s labyrinth to be eaten by the Minotaur. Minos is also known for his role as the judge of the dead in the underworld. In giving Krokowski this nickname, Settembrini is implying that Krokowski (and his supervisor Behrens, whom Settembrini calls Rhadamanthus, another mythological judge of the dead in the underworld) has no interest in healing patients. Rather, his treatment of them brings them closer to death—an outcome in which Krokowski may even take perverse pleasure.
Dr. Krokowski Quotes in The Magic Mountain
The The Magic Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Krokowski or refer to Dr. Krokowski. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 4, Chapter 6: Analysis
Quotes
Any symptom of illness was a masked form of love in action, and illness was merely transformed love.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4, Chapter 8: Table Talk
Quotes
One could no longer say that it thudded on its own accord, for no reason, and without any connection to his soul. There was a connection now, or at least it would not have been difficult to establish one—a justifiable emotion could easily be assigned to his body’s overwrought activity. Hans Castorp needed only to think of Frau Chauchat—and he did think of her—and his heart had a suitable emotion to make it pound.
Part 5, Chapter 3: Freedom
Quotes
“Analysis is good as a tool of enlightenment and civilization—to the extent that it shakes stupid preconceptions, quashes natural biases, and undermines authority. Good, in other words, to the extent that it liberates, refines, and humanizes—it makes slaves ripe for freedom. It is bad, very bad, to the extent that it prevents action, damages life at its roots, and is incapable of shaping it. Analysis can be very unappetizing, as unappetizing as death, to which it may very well be linked—a relative of the grave and its foul anatomy.”
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Dr. Krokowski Quotes in The Magic Mountain
The The Magic Mountain quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Krokowski or refer to Dr. Krokowski. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 4, Chapter 6: Analysis
Quotes
Any symptom of illness was a masked form of love in action, and illness was merely transformed love.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4, Chapter 8: Table Talk
Quotes
One could no longer say that it thudded on its own accord, for no reason, and without any connection to his soul. There was a connection now, or at least it would not have been difficult to establish one—a justifiable emotion could easily be assigned to his body’s overwrought activity. Hans Castorp needed only to think of Frau Chauchat—and he did think of her—and his heart had a suitable emotion to make it pound.
Part 5, Chapter 3: Freedom
Quotes
“Analysis is good as a tool of enlightenment and civilization—to the extent that it shakes stupid preconceptions, quashes natural biases, and undermines authority. Good, in other words, to the extent that it liberates, refines, and humanizes—it makes slaves ripe for freedom. It is bad, very bad, to the extent that it prevents action, damages life at its roots, and is incapable of shaping it. Analysis can be very unappetizing, as unappetizing as death, to which it may very well be linked—a relative of the grave and its foul anatomy.”
