Journal 2

In the first Act, there is some characterization of Hjalmers - but not much. This contrasts starkly with Act 2 where almost every line helps characterize Hjalmers, but not necessarily in a good way. Through his dialogue, he is almost constantly building himself up and creating a facade of his true life. In this quote he completely negates telling his family what the true number is, even though its extremely likely he remembers. "We were some twelve, fourteen people at the table" (141). This is due to the bad luck surrounding the number as well as the negative comments shot at him by Werle. This same language is then used by Old Ekdal when him, Hjalmer and Gina are discussing his dinner. "Listen to that, Gina! He travels only in the best circles" (142). In this quote Old Ekdal seems extremely sarcastic in the sense that he does not believe that Hjalmer was truly invited to join the group but instead was an outsider, like he was.