Thus, she is a perfect example of a patient whose insensitivity and total lack of potential keep her disease from working in her favor. To top it all off, Frau Stöhr keeps boasting of the twenty-eight different fish sauces she can fix. Also, her name means 'sturgeon' in German and, spelled slightly differently, 'stubborn,' which provides ample leeway for the (German-speaking) reader's punning imagination. The consistently stupid expression of Frau Stöhr's face, for instance, is described in terms of her 'rodentlike teeth.' As the story goes on, this set of teeth becomes Frau Stöhr.

Here Mann proves himself a perfect caricaturist, employing recurring leitmotifs and picking picturesque, appropriate names. Her overly cultured ways, which cannot hide her countless gaucheries, are symptomatic of her society's essential barbarism. It is important to note that, sterile, sick, and half-dead though the patients here may be, socializing and the sham accompanying it does interest them as if they needed it to simulate ordinary life 'below.' Like so many other patients, Frau Stöhr is forever anxious to cover up her total lack of intelligence and education by carrying on high-brow conversations and acting sophisticated. Most memorable among the minor characters Castorp meets here is perhaps Frau Stöhr, whose unbelievable stupidity and coarseness puts her on the lowest rank of the social ladder at the Berghof. The fact that they are all extremely wealthy is by no means a coincidence and adds to the vital social and political implications of the book. Quaint little habits, distinct accents, gross flaws, and most unusual looks identify each of those assembled as the representative of his specific profession or corner of the continent. When Joachim introduces his cousin to several patients at their first breakfast together, the array of characters they meet affords them a glimpse of all the misery and falseness that they will live with throughout their stay. The peculiar impressions Hans Castorp collects characterize the atmosphere of physical and moral decay prevailing at the sanatorium. Second, the chapter opens the discussion on the nature of time, the novel's other major theme. This chapter serves two main functions: that of introducing Hans Castorp to real life at the Berghof and its director, Hofrat Behrens, as well as to the two characters who will vie for his attention from now on - Settembrini and Clavdia Chauchat.

The magic mountain mann