The moral exaltation which
manifests itself in this struggle is most vividly portrayed. She clings
to life desperately; she is young and strong, unsentimental, and averse
to ascetic enthusiasm. It finally occurs to her that her own race, too,
will assert itself in this child; that the pure and vigorous strain
which her own blood will infuse may redeem it from the dark destiny of
the Kurts. She finally resolves upon a compromise; if the child is dark,
like the Kurts, both it and its mother shall die. If it is blue-eyed and
light-haired, like the Rendalens, she will devote her life to
obliterating in it, or transforming into useful activities, the
destructive vigor of the paternal character. Thomas, when he is born,
chooses a golden mean between these two extremes, and perversely makes
his appearance as a red-haired, gray-eyed infant, in which both a Kurt
and a Rendalen might have made comforting observations. He is
accordingly permitted to live, and to become the hero of one of the most
remarkable novels which has ever been published in Scandinavia.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132