# XIII: Tord's Exile explained — Downstream > Chapter companion for Downstream by Sigfrid Siwertz. ## What happens Tord Selamb, driven by loneliness and a wild instinct, meets a woman named Dagmar Bru on a rainy March night. She has just left a sculptor and thrown away the key to his studio. Tord takes her home to The Rookery, and after a period of tense cohabitation, he marries her. Meanwhile, the Selamb siblings gather at Selambshof, growing anxious about Tord's marriage and his erratic behavior. Peter proposes exiling Tord to the remote island of Järnö to protect the family's reputation and interests. ## Themes in this chapter ### Family Dysfunction and Betrayal The Selamb siblings gather to plot against Tord, accusing him of selfishness and plotting his exile to protect their own interests, revealing deep familial distrust and manipulation. ### Nature vs. Civilization Tord's defense of the wilderness against urban encroachment and his wild, instinctual behavior contrast with the family's calculated, civilized scheming at Selambshof. ### Sexuality and Repression Tord's restless pursuit of women and his eventual relationship with Dagmar, a 'beautiful witch,' highlight his repressed desires and the tension between instinct and social propriety. ## Character check-ins ### Tord Selamb Tord, the youngest Selamb brother, is consumed by loneliness and a restless pursuit of women. He meets Dagmar Bru, takes her in, and eventually marries her, causing alarm among his siblings. ### Dagmar Selamb Dagmar, formerly Dagmar Bru, is a free-spirited woman who leaves a sculptor and throws away the key to his studio. She moves in with Tord and marries him, then boldly visits the Selamb family at Selambshof. ### Peter Selamb Peter, the eldest and de facto head of the family, manipulates the siblings and proposes exiling Tord to Järnö to mitigate the scandal of Tord's marriage. ### Laura Laura is outraged by Tord's marriage and accuses him of selfishness, calling him an egoist with no regard for others. ### Stellan Selamb Stellan, ever ironic, feels bitterness that Tord's egoism has declined from the family's successful standard, and demands Tord be kept away from his social circles. ## Key lines > everything sleeps at the bottom of a green sea, where the desires of our dreams move silently like great fishes. All is still beneath a green sea, where hidden yearnings drift like silent, massive fish. _Opening metaphor for the subconscious and repressed desires._ > The town as landscape, as nature, as the hunting ground of all the wild instincts. The city becomes a wilderness, a terrain for primal urges. _Describes the urban environment as a natural habitat for instinctual behavior._ > It was like a beast of the forest, he thought. He imagined it as a wild animal of the woods. _Tord's perception of Dagmar as a wild, untamed creature._ > And like old King Midas it changed all it touched into gold. Like the mythical King Midas, the town turned everything it touched into gold. _Metaphor for the town's ability to increase property values._ > They quarrelled terribly, but stuck together all the same—just like the Bonaparte family. They fought fiercely yet remained united, much like the Bonaparte clan. _Comparison of the Selambs to the Bonapartes, highlighting their conflicted loyalty._ > He was dangerous, Tord, he did not hide what ought to be hidden, he unmasked them all; he was a caricature of them. Tord was perilous because he refused to conceal what should be concealed, exposing them all as a distorted reflection. _Stellan's realization that Tord's honesty threatens the family's facade._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-xiii-tord-s-exile - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/downstream_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/downstream_se/chapters