Page 27

Satire Prohibited: 
Laughter, Satire, and Irony 
in Thomas Mann's Oeuvre 
BURGHARD DEDNER 
The Betrachtungen eines Unpolitischen, Thomas Mann's long and elaborate ac-
count of why, between 1914 and 1918, he supported Germany's conduct of the
war, including the declaration of war and the assault on Belgium, contains
a chapter 
entitled "Einiges uber Menschlichkeit," in which, among other things,
the author 
describes how one day he was struck by the sight of a one-armed man leading
a blind man through the streets of Munich. Both wore uniforms; both were
evident- 
ly war cripples (I use this drastic and unsentimental term on purpose). The
author 
says that this sight initially provoked in him "human" emotions;
that he reacted 
with pity and fury, with the thought of "never again will we allow this
to hap- 
pen," with the gesture of "j'accuse" directed against the
war mongers of all 
nations. "Euch haben sie zugerichtet! dachte ich. Nein, es ist ungeheuerlich,
Wahnsinn, Verbrechen und Schande. Nie darf und nie wird es wieder sein"
(GW 
12:471).' 
He approached the two cripples, knowing that, seen close up, life is 
"schlichter, bescheidener, unrhetorischer, kaum je ohne humoristischen
Einschlag, 
und kurzum viel menschlicher ist es dann gleich" (ibid.). Sure enough,
the 
observer's anger diminished as soon as he came closer. It was a nice spring
day; 
the two cripples seemed to be enjoying the weather and even the attention
they 
were getting from the public; they were talking about trivial concerns such
as 
lunch or digestion; one of them started laughing; they were using the guttural
sounds of the Bavarian dialect: "Der Einarmige sah sich manchmal die
Menschen 
an, der Blinde konnte sie nicht sehen, er stierte kiinstlich geradeaus; aber
er wu]3te 
ja, wie sie meistens aussahen, und sehr viel hatte er nicht daran verloren.
Das 
Wetter war sch6n, wie gesagt. Sie gingen und atmeten die angenehm herbe,
nach 
welkem Laub duftende Luft, und die Sonne schien ihnen auf die Nase"
(GW 
12:472). 
The observer's anger diminishes even more when he imagines what these 
two men must have experienced in the last months. Obviously, they had been
wounded and had suffered badly up to the point when medical attention alleviated
27