98
PARTISAN IUVIEW
several attempts. Even his sister had given up hope in the face of his
increasingly severe drug addiction. The suicide simply eliminated a source
of di sorder.
Thomas Mann's life was constantly besieged by disorder of the most
dangerous kind, which could only be combatted by the most severe self–
discipline. Actually , a number of other things were required such as
creature comforts, which were useful in helping him to maintain distance.
This sentiment is expressed in
Ti)lIio
KriijZCI'
when Tonio says that anyone
"who suffers so much ll10re than others interIlally, is perfectly justified in
insisting on a little external ease." So a life of luxury is compensation–
albeit woefully inadequate- for the extraordinary suffering of God's
chosen or, perhaps, the condition under which that suffering can to some
degree be borne. Thomas Mann possessed not only the means but the cir–
cumspection and resolve to set himself up as comfortably as possible
throughout his roving life. The f:lct is, Mann went through life utterly con–
vinced that he was lucky. This conviction was the prerequisite for a lifetime
of work completed at the edge of exhaustion. ])ue to this conviction he
wasn't entirely surprised when the innuential millionaire Agnes Meyer
stood ready to be his benefactor and agent when he arrived in America.
That she thought her role elltitled her to certain privileges was her mis–
take. Thomas Manll wrote poli te letters to her, then put what he really
thought in his diary. When he noticed that the old silk robe she had sent
him was beginning to tatter, the entry in his di;lry reads: "l3argain trash–
typical of her gifts ." She gave him such costly presents that-as she once
told him, when thanks for a Christmas gift were late in coming-he could
have supported himself for a year on each of them. Even after his return
to Europe he asked her, in the most gallant, nowery words, for an emerald
ring for his eightieth birthday. Clear stones delighted him , and his family
could never afford such a gift. After all, what is a jewel fi-oll1 a millionaire
compared to a prettily-composed letter fi·om Thoillas Mallll) As it turns
out, the question is speculative, for the millionaire managed not to fulfill
his last birthday wish. At the end of his stay in America, ;lfter an anti–
American article appeared under his name (but which he had not written)
she wrote him an "hysterical" letter. He answered her, but not quite as he
might have liked. In his diary he wrote, "This person, blinkered by her class
;:\I1d money, thinks her banal and bogus patriotism gives her the right to lec–
ture me. She won't soon forget me." There is evidence that she was a fine
woman. l3ut that doesn't concerll us here. It was her money and willing–
ness to serve which were part of the order of his life.
The mon ey was a drop in the bucket compared to what he gave
humanity. How co uld hi s cOlltribution be repaid ) The whole of hi s little
country wouldn't have sufficed. What genius gives us cannot be repaid-and
