How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
There had been an hourglass in his parents' house many years before, and all at once he could see the fragile yet momentous little device as if it were standing before him. The rust-colored sand would run soundless and fine through the narrow glass neck, and when the upper bulb was nearly empty a small raging whirlpool would form there.
Sometimes we all need a good, old-fashioned metaphor. This image of Aschenbach's parents' hourglass, with the sand that runs round and round before forming a "small raging whirlpool" at the end, perfectly captures Aschenbach's own life: stoic discipline that continues on and on, before, at the end of it all, a "raging" passion takes it all down.