Murau's secret beef
This novel could be called, "Murau's beef with his parents." The novel is so tightly oriented around his perception of self in relationship to the cultural identity he has inherited from his parents, and he talks up a storm in the prose about what that beef is and why it matters to him and who he really is inside and how his parents never really understood him. But that's what makes the ironic twist of the novel so poignant. What he really hates about his parents is that they aren't immortal. Their personality flaws are proof of their animal nature, and as the animalistic title implies, it is their animal Extinction that he seeks to escape in his appreciation of artistic genius, which by contrast feels transcendental and immortal.
Uncle Georg
If he doesn't care about his family, why does Franz-Josef bank so much on his Uncle Georg's opinion? It is ironic proof that although he dislikes his parents, he still loves them. He cannot rid himself of his animal attachment to his life-givers anymore than he can walk away from the estate forever. Georg's example is the reason Murau felt comfortable leaving the family. He knew from that uncle that secretly, the family love would still reach him, because the parents secretly love Georg too.
Art and entertainment
For proud Austrian aristocrats, what is more important than entertainment? Art is mostly about appearances and aesthetics in the Murau estate. The estate is stunning and beautiful, admits Murau, but it isn't artistic genius in the sense that Murau longs for. He goes to Italy to celebrate the genius sculptors and painters. Indeed, the cultural divide between Italian art appreciation and aristocratic entertainment is considerable. It is Murau's opinion that his parents cannot tell the difference at all.
The broken oath
Murau swears not to go to Wolfsegg again in his natural life, but when his parents die, he has no one left to impress. He goes anyway and inherits the house. He ends up giving it away but not before appreciating the irony of his station. Does he hate the house as his oath indicated? No, secretly he loves the house and feels a great emotional attachment to its beautiful design. He was just being a little bit melodramatic, perhaps.
Death and irony
When his parents die, it becomes clear what he doesn't like about them. He wants them to be gods or something. He'd like them to be immortal so that they can appreciate him and make him feel important and divine himself. Instead, they are basically clumsy human people with animal instincts like the rest of us, and when they experience animal Extinction, Murau realizes that he was mad at them for not striving for immortality through genius art appreciation and transcendental philosophies. They were comfortable being who they were and dying, but he wants to live forever. Secretly, it seems he loves his parents dearly and has been tricked by his perception into missing out on time with them by pretending he were better than them. He admits he is not better than them; he is as mortal as they are, despite his genius.
