Death in Venice

It takes Aschenbach two weeks to organize his affairs sufficiently to leave Munich. He plans to spend a month in this environment that is conveniently close at hand but sufficiently foreign to satiate his wanderlust. He takes a train to Triest and then on to a resort in Pola, a popular island off the Istrian coast in the Adriatic. However, he is dissatisfied with the lack of sandy beaches, the cold rainy weather, and the exclusively provincial Austrian clientele. He leaves after a little over a week, following an instinctive pull that he realizes is leading him to Venice. He travels to Venice on a dilapidated ship which also carries a group of boisterous young clerks. As he observes their cheerful antics, Aschenbach notes with a frisson of repugnance that the most outspoken member of the group is significantly older than his companions. The old man wears flamboyant fashion, a wig, and makeup, none of which conceal his advanced age. Aschenbach wonders that the young men are willing to treat the interloper as one of them and feels unwell. As the ship pulls away into the open sea, his vision distorts as he’s overcome with a feeling of estrangement and alienation as though he is underwater.