The category of freedom in Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain

The article examines various ideas about the essence of the concept of freedom and the problems of choice, will, and responsibility associated with it throughout human history. Representations of the category of freedom in literature allows us to consider an individual in all their contradictions, which is excellently reflected in the characters of Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg, 1924), a deep philosophical study of human nature. The object of the research is a detailed and convincing depiction of the inner world of the novel’s characters, reflections on life, death, history, art, and culture, the symbolism and ambiguity of the described objects and phenomena, the complex philosophical language of the narrative – everything that creates a unique world in which the protagonist goes through a path of personal transformation in discovering the boundaries of freedom and limitations.