“It was the first time since their arrival at Amundsen's farm that either of the two friends left the yard. Niels was glad to escape from the crowded house. He felt as if freedom had been bestowed upon him in the wild. Somehow he felt less a stranger in the bush. Though everything was different, yet it was nature as in Sweden. None of the heath country of his native Blekinge here; none of the pretty juniper trees; none of the sea with its rocky islands. These poplar trees seemed wilder, less spared by an ancient civilisation that has learned to appreciate them. They invited the axe, the explorer.”
Niels is emphatically homesick; his comparative scrutiny between Sweden and Blekinge validates the idea that he misses his home. The overt dissimilarities between the two call the particularity of his home to mind. An axe is representative of deforestation that would expedite the immigrants’ settlement.
“Mrs. Lund was like a great lady, accustomed, no matter what she wore and how she looked, to lord it over every one in her surroundings; but even she seemed to live under a strain, as if she kept her spirits up in an eternal fight against adverse circumstances. Her predominance was a physical one, gained by sheer weight and dimensions and held by sonorous contralto and booming ring of the voice. All the other women were subdued, self-effacing, almost apologetic; as if daunted by work and struggling not to be swamped by it.”
Poverty amplifies the women’s tough experiences. They strain perpetually to advance their economic situations and the aftermath of the straining is apparent in their appearances. Existence at the swamp is not unequivocally comfortable, considering that women are expected to strain relentlessly.
“But suddenly he understood far more than the mere words. He understood that this woman knew she was at the end of her life and that life had not kept faith with her. Her voice was only half that with which we tell of a marvellous dream; half it was a passionate protest against the squalour surrounding her: it reared a triumphant vision above the ruins of reality. It was the cry of despair which says, It shall not be so!”
Niels gathers that Mrs. Lund is resigned to her lowly economic situation that is marred by unqualified poverty. Although Mrs. Lunds claims “One day… we are going to have everything as it should be. A large, good house; a hot-bed for the garden; real, up-to-date stables; and . . . everything. And the children are going to learn something. We want Bobby to go to college . . ." Her words are equivalent to unrealistic anticipations which will not materialize. Their dreams are probably unattainable considering that they have aged significantly. Had they been a young couple, then they would have awaited a future of opulence. Niels’ observation depicts the arduousness of overpowering poverty. Possessing land is not the solitary factor that enables the settlers’ actualization.
