Quote:
Originally Posted by Bookpossum
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Regarding the matter in the spoiler, to me it was an example of how Mann stacked the deck and unfairly, I think. Johann was able; it strained my credulity that he would be deceived by Grünlich's fake books, or that there wasn't scuttlebutt about the real nature of his business that he would have heard. And of course the crop Thomas bought was destroyed by hail, who was surprised? There was an inevitability about it all and fair enough in the sense that the family was played out, but there were too many instances of the worst possible outcome.
Thomas may have wanted Tony to stay with Permaneder to avoid scandal, but I think that would have been the better choice for her and perhaps that was an element in his advice. She liked Permaneder well enough her first trip to Munich (although the reader could only see him as a buffoon and knew it would end badly) and while he didn't live up to her expectations (or vice versa), she still had an establishment and the dignity of being a married woman, a better life than skulking in her mother's house and feeling snubbed whenever she left it. And Permaneder of course turned out to be a decent guy and there was the implication that Tony regretted her choice at times. Tony demonstrated little agency, but rejecting Thomas's advice was the absolute wrong time for her to find a spine.