# VII: Brundin's Downfall explained — Downstream > Chapter companion for Downstream by Sigfrid Siwertz. ## What happens Peter Selamb, now a watchful and calculating young man, obsessively monitors the bailiff Brundin's management of Selambshof. During the autumn pig slaughter, Peter counts and memorizes every detail, driven by a greedy desire to inherit the estate. He breaks into Brundin's office to examine his account books but finds the complex ledgers incomprehensible, leading to a crushing sense of impotence. Despite this setback, Peter's resolve hardens as he plots Brundin's downfall. ## Themes in this chapter ### Greed and Moral Corruption Peter's obsessive counting and plotting to steal Selambshof from Brundin reveal how greed corrupts his youth, poisoning his relationship with the land and turning him into a calculating watchdog. ### Money and Power Peter's betrothal to wealth and his frantic desire to control the estate's finances drive the chapter, as he tries to master Brundin's ledgers and dreams of becoming rich and powerful. ### Childhood and Inescapable Fate Peter's childhood terrors and sense of impotence resurface in his nightmare, suggesting that his early experiences with fear and helplessness shape his inescapable fate as a greedy, suspicious adult. ## Character check-ins ### Peter Selamb Peter, now called 'Peter the Watchdog,' obsessively spies on Brundin, counts produce, and attempts to decipher Brundin's ledgers, driven by a greedy ambition to control Selambshof. ### Mr. Brundin Brundin, the bailiff, oversees the pig slaughter and dismisses Peter's fear as cowardice, but his authority is already waning in Peter's eyes after Frida's dismissal. ### Hedvig Hedvig is mentioned in relation to her God, which shares a common origin with Peter's God, both shaped by old Kristin's servants' God and the terrors of helplessness. ### Frida Öberg Frida appears in Peter's nightmare, standing naked and stirring a pail of Peter's blood, symbolizing his deep-seated fears and the lingering trauma of her dismissal. ### Oskar Selamb Oskar, Peter's father, is present at breakfast; Peter sits next to him voluntarily as a sacrifice to propitiate the gods before his planned theft of Brundin's books. ### Kristin Old Kristin is remembered as no longer present at the pig slaughter; she used to collect blood solemnly, and her absence leaves a 'strange emptiness.' ## Key lines > control all that money," he thought. "I shall be bailiff, and I shall have my reward, because I saved the estate from Brundin. No, don't imagine that I can be kept out of all that." Peter breathed heavily. He felt a queer sucking sensation in his stomach. Fancy if it should all be his. Fancy if one day he should become rich, rich! No, he no longer had only fear and worries⁠—certain timid, trembling voluptuous desires contracted his throat. Is it then to be wondered at that Peter Selamb did not plough deep enough in the alien and unsympathetic Upland clay? These were the days of his betrothal to wealth. Peter fantasizes about becoming bailiff and inheriting the estate, feeling a mix of fear and greedy desire that distracts him from farming properly. _This passage highlights Peter's obsession with wealth and his view of himself as the estate's savior from Brundin._ > But Peter kept near the corner of the cowshed the whole time; he came no nearer, and Brundin thought he was frightened: "Come and help us. What kind of a country lad are you to be frightened of the killing?" But the bailiff was mistaken. Peter was not at all frightened because the pigs were squeaking. He was only afraid that they were squeaking for Brundin's benefit and not for his own and Selambshof's. Brundin thinks Peter is scared of the pig slaughter, but Peter is actually worried that the pigs' squeals are benefiting Brundin instead of himself and the estate. _This reveals Peter's paranoid possessiveness and his secret agenda to claim everything for himself._ > And then he made a terrible discovery. He understood nothing, absolutely nothing of this system of figures and lines. "Debit," "credit," "carried forward," etc. , stood there. What it all meant he could not make out. The name Axel Brundin & Co. he found everywhere in the books. It stared out at him with ever-increasing mystery. It was not at all the straightforward way that Peter had imagined in connection with sacks of flour and barrels of potatoes. He found nothing to hold fast to. At last his head swam. He could not master Brundin's row of figures. Peter struck his forehead against the table, cursing and sobbing. This was a terrible defeat. Peter breaks into Brundin's office but cannot understand the complex accounting system, leaving him frustrated and defeated. _This marks a turning point where Peter's ignorance and lack of education hinder his ambition, deepening his resentment._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-vii-brundin-s-downfall - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/downstream_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/downstream_se/chapters