Journal #3 The Wild Duck

Isben carefully lays the plot in a way where the reader has trouble naming the blame on one character. I have listed the characters I believe are guilty and list the reasons why.

Greggers: Instigating the whole plot. His hatred of his father leads him to want to anger him by telling Hjalmar the truth. He also convinced Hedvig to kill the wild duck as a symbol of her love and sacrifice. Greggers romanticizes how truth makes way for happiness, without looking at the consequences. He expected Hjalmar and Gina to resolve quickly.

Relling: He creates deception in Hjalmar's life. He thinks that the invention is a good lie though, to keep him motivated to live. This is debatable. He is guilty to adding more lies into his life.

Gina: She lied to Hjalmar from the very start and kept it a secret. I believe she is to be blamed the most. She also does not seem very apologetic when he finds out the truth. Rather, she calls Greggers a monster that has walked through their lives. If she had been truthful from the start, Hjalmar could have decided whether to forgive her or not.

Werle: He cheated on his wife which created Greggers suspicious personality. He pursued Gina. He supported Hjalmar financially, but by doing this, takes away his dignity.

Hjalmar: He does not tell Hedvig the truth about her eyes. He treats her as Gina has treated him. He also tries to make himself feel better by feeling guilty. Instead of facing the truth, he lies to himself. Saying how hard he works, and how hard it is to be a breadwinner.

All the characters can be argued that their action was justifiable because they thought it was the best thing to do. Isben does not directly show what he believed in. We don't know how Hjalmar ends up. He could end up an alcoholic according to Relling, or learn from Hedvig according to Greggers. Who knows? I do know that Isben believed that honesty was the best way to enter a situation, even if it is ugly. Mrs. Sorby and Werle are honest about everything and are able to forgive each other. It is hard to say what should have been done in Hjalmar's situation, but if Gina had been honest from the start, everything could have been prevented.

Mrs. Sorby, Hedvig, Ekdal, and Molvik are not to blame. Either they did not know the truth, were the victim of deception, or were not obliged to step into the situation.