XXVII: Recovery explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Illusion vs. Reality

  Falk's return to society is marked by a performance of respectability, contrasting with his inner savagery and the grim reality of Olle's despair.

• Ambition and Moral Compromise

  Falk compromises his earlier ideals, teaching a sanitized version of history and conforming to social expectations for a comfortable life.

• Death and Existential Despair

  Olle's absence and morose state, along with Falk's work at the Department for Death Duties, underscore themes of mortality and despair.

Characters to notice

• Arvid Falk

  Returns to society as a teacher and government clerk, struggling with his past savagery and finding a new routine.

• Dr. Borg

  Corresponds with Falk and is a regular at the Red Room, approving of Falk's boisterous mood.

• Struve

  Falk writes to him; he is a secret enemy and envier at the Red Room.

• Sellén

  Present at the Red Room, preparing his second success.

• Lundell

  Now a fat Epicurean who only comes to the Red Room when he has no money for dinner.

• Olle Montanus

  Still employed by the stonemason, has become a gloomy misanthrope and has not been seen at the Red Room for a long time.

• Isaac Levi

  Falk's admirer, present at the Red Room.

Key passages

• “He had discarded his disreputable hat and bought a high one which he found difficult, at first, to keep on his head; he had bought gloves, but in his savagery he had replied 'fifteen' when the shopgirl asked for his size, and blushed when his reply brought a smile to the face of every girl in the shop.”

  Falk replaced his old hat with a top hat that kept falling off, and when buying gloves, he embarrassingly gave the wrong size, causing the shopgirls to laugh.

  Illustrates Falk's awkward re-entry into polite society after his bohemian period.

• “He made allowances, and let Louis XIV and Alexander be termed great men, like all others who had been successful; he permitted the French Revolution to be called a terrible event, during which the noble Louis XVI and the virtuous Marie Antoinette perished miserably, and so on.”

  Falk taught a conventional, uncritical version of history, accepting the standard praise of monarchs and condemnation of the French Revolution.

  Shows Falk's moral compromise in his teaching role.

• “But if, while he lets off his fireworks for the amusement of his friends, he should catch, through the dense tobacco smoke, a glimpse of the morose Olle on the other side of the room, his mood changes, he becomes gloomy like a night on the sea, and swallows large quantities of strong liquor, as if he wanted to extinguish a smouldering fire.”

  When Falk sees the gloomy Olle at the Red Room, his cheerful demeanor collapses into despair, and he drinks heavily to suppress his inner turmoil.

  Highlights the contrast between Falk's surface recovery and his underlying existential dread.