XXVI explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Poverty and Survival

  Lasse's destitution and reliance on Sort's charity highlight the struggle for survival among the poor.

• Fatherhood and Family

  Pelle's care for his father Lasse, retrieving his belongings and supporting him emotionally, underscores familial bonds.

• Dreams and Aspiration

  Pelle's departure for Copenhagen is driven by hope and longing for a better future, symbolizing aspiration.

Characters to notice

• Pelle the Conqueror

  Pelle retrieves Lasse's belongings, prepares to leave for Copenhagen, visits a woman to say goodbye, attends Alfred's wedding, and departs by steamer.

• Father Lasse

  Lasse is dejected, frail, and bitter about losing Heath Farm; he moves in with Sort and attends Alfred's wedding with Pelle.

• Sort

  Sort houses Pelle and Lasse, offers comfort and advice, and gives Pelle money for his journey.

• Brother Kalle

  Kalle attends Alfred's wedding, squeezed among the hindmost chairs, wearing a new gray suit.

• Alfred

  Alfred is the bridegroom at the wedding; Pelle and Lasse attend the ceremony.

Key passages

• “Now the parish has sold Heath Farm to the Hill Farm man for five thousand kroner, and they say he's got a good bargain.”

  The parish sold Heath Farm to the Hill Farm owner for five thousand kroner, considered a good deal.

  Lasse bitterly recounts the sale of the farm he worked on.

• “We poor lice have prepared the way for him!”

  We poor people have made the land fertile for the rich farmer.

  Lasse expresses resentment that his labor benefited the wealthy.

• “I'm only a human being too!”

  I am just a person with feelings.

  The woman Pelle visits embraces him passionately, revealing her loneliness.