The Lodger and Other Stories is an eclectic mix of stories written about different aspects of Icelandic culture. The stories are largely connected by shared themes such as gender, societal expectations, and materialism. Svava shows how the expectations of society can be damaging and demeaning, especially to women.
Svava's protagonists are often women, and she explores society from the perspective of mothers and wives. She emphasizes the fact that a lot is expected of women, and this often leads to sacrifices. This idea is metaphorically explored in her well-known story "A Story for Children." This is an interesting title for the story, considering that it contains gory and unsettling images.
Nonetheless, this story is arguably directed towards those who take their mother for granted, emphasizing how much mothers sacrifice for their children. In the story, the mother even sacrifices her brain and her heart for her children, symbolizing the fact that women are expected to put their own lives on the back-burner for the sake of their children.
The story "The Lodger" also explores the damaging expectations within the domestic sphere. The wife in this story is obsessed with having the perfect home and often looks outside of herself for validation from others. She compares herself to neighbors and laments her household's relative financial situation. Overall, Svava suggests that modern values of materialism and consumerism confuse the role of women further in the domestic sphere, distracting people from what truly matters.
