What It Is
The clock and the calendar, the measure of time "down below." In Chapter III Joachim Ziemssen answers Hans Castorp's philosophy of time with them; in Chapter VII, seven years after arriving, Hans Castorp no longer has a working clock or a calendar.
Where It Appears
Time has no nature of its own, none at all. When it seems long to us, it is long, and when it seems short, it is short, but no one actually knows its true extent.
We measure time by means of space, then. But that is the same as measuring space with the aid of time [...] which is done only by people without a scientific spirit.
For time to be measurable, it would have to flow in a uniform way; and where is it written that it does? For our consciousness, it does not. We merely assume it, for the good order of things, and our measures, allow me to observe, are nothing but conventions...
What It Means
The clock is the opposite of the thermometer: one measures ordinary time, that of the plain and of duty; the other measures the time of illness. Joachim, who wants to go down, is the one who defends the clock; Hans Castorp, who stays, attacks the unit of measurement and ends up with no clock running.
Relationships
- Core theme: Time.
- Characters: Joachim Ziemssen, Hans Castorp.