Downstream · Chapter
VII: Shadow Play explained
Hedvig struggles with her growing dependence on Jacob Levy, who has lured her into the world of finance and business.
What happens
Hedvig struggles with her growing dependence on Jacob Levy, who has lured her into the world of finance and business. She oscillates between fascination and fear, suspecting he may only want her money. To escape her anxiety, she retreats to the cemetery to sit by Percy's grave, seeking refuge in shadows and memory.
Themes in this chapter
Money and Power
Hedvig is drawn into Levy's money-world, where finance becomes a medium of connection and power. She experiences both exhilaration and terror at the thought of her wealth being used or taken.
Greed and Moral Corruption
Levy's passionate discourse on money and business, along with Hedvig's suspicion that he only wants her money, highlights the corrupting influence of greed and the moral ambiguities of financial dealings.
Death and Mortality
Hedvig repeatedly retreats to the cemetery and Percy's grave, using death and memory as a refuge from the pressures of life and finance. The chapter opens with her deathly pale complexion and ends with her sitting motionless by the tomb.
Characters to notice
- Hedvig
Hedvig is torn between her attraction to Levy's financial world and her fear of being exploited. She paces restlessly, telephones Levy repeatedly, and ultimately flees to Percy's grave for solace.
- Jacob Levy
Levy is the aggressive, passionate lawyer who draws Hedvig into business and finance. He invites himself to dinner and dismisses her brother Peter's methods as old-fashioned, advocating instead for industrial shares.
- Percy Hill
Percy is deceased, but Hedvig visits his grave and drapes herself in crepe to dampen Levy's advances. His memory serves as a shield against Levy's world.
- Peter Selamb
Peter is mentioned as Hedvig's brother, whose business methods Levy criticizes as old-fashioned. He is associated with Selambs Ltd. and its annual meeting.
- Ohlesson
Ohlesson is Hedvig's chauffeur, who suggests using the open car but is overruled as Hedvig orders the covered car to go to the cemetery.
Key passages
“But the hundred thousand were stronger than her fears. And thus Levy had lured her into his world, the money-world.”
The prospect of a hundred thousand overcame her hesitation, and Levy drew her into the realm of finance.
Hedvig's initial resistance to Levy's financial proposals is overcome by the allure of a large sum.
“He was the personification of that egoism. It was something different from Percy’s laissez-aller and cool, submissive irony. It was wheels that rolled. It was diamond cut diamond. It was power, destiny.”
Levy embodied a dynamic, world-embracing egoism, unlike Percy's passive irony; he represented relentless activity, competition, and fate.
Contrast between Levy's aggressive ambition and Percy's detached passivity.
“Then in her anxiety she crept behind her dead husband, draped herself in crepe, fled to the shadows and became just piety and memory.”
When anxious, Hedvig hid behind the memory of her deceased husband, adopting mourning and retreating into piety and remembrance.
Hedvig uses her widowhood as a shield against Levy's advances.
“She dreamt frightened dreams of being permitted at last to bare herself, give herself up, be freed from herself, to fling all her misery into the flames of love.”
She had fearful fantasies of finally surrendering herself completely and casting her suffering into the fire of love.
Hedvig's inner conflict between desire for emotional release and fear of vulnerability.
“Supposing he only wants your money! Then suspicion, and anxious greed rushed over her with a thousand reasons.”
The thought that Levy might only be after her money triggered a flood of suspicion and greedy fear.
Hedvig's paranoid doubt about Levy's intentions.
