v. Redemption
Faust narratives are, at their core, stories about damnation and the possibility of redemption. These were not abstract questions for Thomas Mann, who wrote his novel as a refugee from Nazi Germany and was heavily preoccupied with the future of his native country. How does Doctor Faustus employ symbolism and Bible quotations to incorporate a religious element into an otherwise largely secular story? What does the novel have to say about damnation and redemption? Is Zeitblom’s final prayer, “May God have mercy on your poor soul, my friend, my fatherland,” justified?
Zeitblom’s hopes and the question of Leverkühn’s redemption are the subject of chapter 11, “Illness and Redemption.”