Buddenbrooks

Consul Johann (Jean) Buddenbrook is a central, archetypal character (embodying the devoted patriarch of the family) in Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks who experiences very little change or growth throughout the narrative. He is the son of Johann Buddenbrook the Elder and his second wife, Antoinette Buddenbrook. Mann describes Jean as having his father’s deep-set blue eyes, though in comparison with Johann, “his features were more earnest and defined, the nose jutted forward in a strong curve, and blond curls ran halfway down his cheeks” (5). He is married to Elisabeth (Bethsy) Buddenbrook, who comes from the Kröger family. His marriage to Bethsy, although a content and successful one, does not start as a love union but as an arranged one, exemplifying the traditions of an older generation. Jean is a devoted and loyal husband and father, and highly critical of the luxury his wife’s family, the Krögers, indulge in and the tendency towards extravagance in others, such as his wife Bethsy, his daughter, Tony, and his son Christian.

Jean takes over the family trading firm after his mother dies and his father steps down. Jean embodies the character of a head of the family belonging to the patrician class of 19th-century Lübeck, portraying the traditional values of duty, discipline, and decorum that he wishes to pass down to his family.