The Story of Gösta Berling · Chapter
XIII: The Churchyard explained
On a beautiful August evening, Colonel Beerencreutz, Major Anders Fuchs, and little Ruster row across Lake Löfven to the neglected Svartsjö churchyard.
What happens
On a beautiful August evening, Colonel Beerencreutz, Major Anders Fuchs, and little Ruster row across Lake Löfven to the neglected Svartsjö churchyard. They visit the grave of Acquilon, a gambler and former pensioner at Ekeby who committed suicide and was buried outside the churchyard wall. The three men sit by his grave, play cards, and pay their respects, showing a strange but heartfelt homage to their forgotten friend.
Themes in this chapter
Community and Belonging
The pensioners' visit to Acquilon's grave demonstrates a deep bond of loyalty and belonging, even beyond death and social rejection.
Guilt and Remorse
Acquilon's suicide and burial outside the churchyard highlight themes of guilt, societal judgment, and the desire for atonement.
Redemption and Penitence
The card game at the grave serves as a strange act of redemption, offering companionship and remembrance to a man denied Christian burial.
Characters to notice
- Beerencreutz
Leads the expedition to Acquilon's grave, plays cards with the dead man, and shows loyalty to his fallen comrade.
- Anders Fuchs
Accompanies Beerencreutz to the grave, expressing indignation that such a man as Acquilon lies outside the churchyard.
- Little Ruster
The flute-player and former drummer, weeps for Acquilon and joins the card game at the grave.
Key passages
“He is so lonely outside here, Johan Fredrik. He must long sometimes for a game.”
Beerencreutz suggests that Acquilon, buried alone outside the churchyard, must miss playing cards.
Reflects the pensioners' belief in maintaining fellowship with the dead through familiar rituals.
“It is a sin and a shame that such a man shall lie here.”
Anders Fuchs condemns the injustice of Acquilon's burial outside consecrated ground.
Expresses the pensioners' sense of loyalty and their critique of societal harshness.
“Next to you, colonel, next to you he was the finest man I have ever known.”
Little Ruster praises Acquilon as second only to Beerencreutz in his esteem.
Shows the deep personal regard the pensioners held for Acquilon despite his flaws.