Pelle the Conqueror · Chapter
The Threshing Machine and the Fifty-Öre Piece explained
Pelle endures the monotonous and soul-numbing work of driving the horse for the threshing machine during winter, falling into a state of torpor.
What happens
Pelle endures the monotonous and soul-numbing work of driving the horse for the threshing machine during winter, falling into a state of torpor. Spring brings renewed life and the end of threshing. Pelle cleverly earns a fifty-öre piece by being sent to buy 'birch-fat' (a joke for a thrashing) but the shopkeeper's wife gives him soft soap instead and lets him keep the money. He becomes a 'capitalist' in his own mind, dreaming of purchases. The chapter culminates in Long Ole's horrific accident—his thumb is crushed and severed by the machine—which leaves him maimed for life. Pelle and Lasse discuss plans to escape their servitude, dreaming of America or town work, but are grounded by reality.
Themes in this chapter
Poverty and Survival
Pelle's fifty-öre piece represents a rare moment of economic agency in a life of relentless toil. The accident and the discussion of escape highlight the precariousness of their existence.
Dreams and Aspiration
Pelle's imaginative plans for the future—buying everything, going to America, saving a gentleman's daughter—contrast sharply with the grinding reality of farm labor.
Injustice and Resistance
The men's prank on Pelle and the dangerous working conditions (leading to Long Ole's maiming) reflect the casual cruelty and lack of safety for laborers. Pelle's cleverness in keeping the money is a small act of resistance.
Characters to notice
- Pelle the Conqueror
Endures the monotony of driving the threshing machine, falls into a torpor, then revives with spring. Earns his first fifty-öre piece through cleverness and dreams of using it to buy everything. Discusses future plans with Lasse, including going to America or town.
- Father Lasse
Misses Pelle's lively questions during his torpor. Is the only one who knows about Pelle's wealth. Discusses plans for a better future with Pelle, feeling too old to change but carried away by Pelle's schemes.
- Long Ole
Feeds the machine clumsily, leading to a horrific accident where his thumb is crushed and severed. He is maimed for life, faints at the sight of his own severed thumb.
- Per Olsen
The quiet, respectable day-laborer with a mysterious fate. He measures the grain and is fortunate to have left the machine just before Long Ole's accident.
- Gustav
Gives Pelle the half-krone to buy birch-fat, turning his face away to hide his amusement at the prank.
Key passages
“It was the most intolerable occupation that life had yet offered him. He could not even carve, it was too cold for his fingers; and he felt lonely.”
Driving the threshing machine was the worst job Pelle had ever had; it was too cold to carve, and he felt isolated.
Highlights the physical and emotional toll of the work.
“He had arrived at the condition of torpor that is the only mercy that life vouchsafes to condemned prisoners and people who spend their lives beside a machine.”
Pelle had reached a state of numb apathy, the only comfort for those trapped in monotonous, machine-like labor.
Compares Pelle's state to that of a prisoner, emphasizing the dehumanizing nature of the work.
“Pelle had suddenly become a capitalist, and by his own cleverness; and he made the most of his capital.”
Pelle felt like a wealthy businessman because he had earned the fifty-öre piece through his own wit, and he savored the feeling of ownership.
Ironically contrasts Pelle's tiny fortune with true capitalism, showing his childish pride.
“There was a cry from the inside of the threshing-barn, and the sound of many voices shouting 'Stop!'”
A scream came from the barn, followed by urgent shouts to halt the machine.
Marks the moment of Long Ole's accident.
“When Long Ole saw it, he fainted; it could hardly be wondered at, seeing that he was maimed for life.”
Long Ole fainted upon seeing his own severed thumb, a reaction understandable given he was now permanently disabled.
Emphasizes the severity and finality of the injury.
