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Lust Leads to Death in Mann's Death in Venice Essay

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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 …show more content…

As a reader, I can assume that his death awaits him in Venice, that the lust and desire that he possesses of traveling to Venice might be the cause of his death because somehow I feel as if the title of the novel seemingly gives it away.
Arriving at Venice, he promptly checks into a hotel. Making himself comfortable in the drawing room, he takes his time to examine his surroundings and the people with whom he will be vacationing with. The hotel guests are an international mix. He notices 3 adolescent girls and a boy, yet his attention is quickly drawn to the boy who is about 14 years of age. Achenbach noted with astonishment that the boy was “perfectly beautiful” (Mann, 2004, p.1855), as he went on observing and describing the boy’s entire feature. “It was a face reminiscent of Greek statues from the noblest period of antiquity; it combined perfection of form with a unique personal charm that caused the onlooker to doubt ever having met with anything in nature or in art that could match his perfection.”( Mann, 2004, p.1855). From this point on, I began to question his sexuality because to me, it seems that he has homosexual tendencies. Furthermore, any reader can conclude that he envies the boy. In Achenbach’s mind; the young boy reflects the perfect image of happiness. Something he never felt deep within. Achenbach never got a chance to enjoy his childhood. Most of his childhood days were gloom since it was spent

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