Independent People: Analysis of Major Characters
"Independent People," a novel by Halldór Laxness, explores the lives and struggles of Icelandic crofters through its major characters, particularly focusing on Gudbjartur Jonsson, known as Bjartur. Bjartur embodies the spirit of independence, but his stubbornness and often cruel demeanor lead to significant personal losses, including the deaths of two wives and several children. His first wife, Rosa, a traditionalist, dies shortly after childbirth, while his second wife, Finna, suffers from neglect and poor living conditions until her death.
Their daughter, Asta Sollilja, embodies both independence and tragedy, becoming pregnant and ultimately rejected by Bjartur, only to find a fleeting joy in reconnecting with him later in life. Other characters, such as Bjartur's sons Gvendur and Jon (Nonni), reflect the conflicting desires for freedom and belonging, with Gvendur torn between love and his dreams of emigration. Supporting characters, such as Ingolfur Arnarson, the aristocratic manager of a cooperative society, and the parish minister Gudmundur, add complexity to the social dynamics within the community. Through these characters, Laxness delves into themes of independence, familial relationships, and the harsh realities of rural life in early 20th-century Iceland.
Independent People: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Halldór Laxness
First published: Sjálfstættfólk, 1934–1935 (English translation, 1946)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Iceland
Plot: Social
Time: Twentieth century
Gudbjartur Jonsson (Bjartur), a stubborn, roughly poetic, often cruel, fiercely independent crofter. He loses two wives, one quickly, the other after years of his harshness. He rears Asta, knowing of her illegitimacy. He loses several children in their infancy, Helgi as a child, and Nonni to a home in America. Only Gvendur remains after the ejection of the pregnant Asta, but even Gvendur longs to join Nonni in America and, later, to join the political radicals opposed to the Icelandic government. At last, reunited with Asta after the loss of his big, unfinished home by foreclosure, Bjartur takes her and her children to live with him and Hallbera in the old woman's sod home. Bjartur appears to be a symbol not only of the Icelandic peasant but perhaps of land-loving, independent farmers the world over.
Rosa, Bjartur's first wife, a small, sturdy woman with a cast in one eye; she is pregnant with Asta when she marries Bjartur. A believer in tradition and folk superstition, she opposes Bjartur's scorn of these things. She dies when Asta is born.
Finna, Bjartur's second wife, a pauper sent by Madam Myri to care for Asta. She dies after several years of poor diet, rapid childbearing, and unfeeling scorn and neglect, climaxed by Bjartur's slaughter of her beloved cow.
Asta Sollilja (Sola), Rosa's romantic, imaginative daughter, doomed to unhappiness. Pale-faced and dark-haired, she has, like her mother, a cast in one eye. Pregnant by a drunken, tubercular tutor, she is thrown out by Bjartur, has another child by another father, and is carrying a third when Bjartur comes for her. Independent like Bjartur, she has rejected the offer of Ingolfur, her father, to help her. Consumptive when she is reunited with Bjartur, she has only a short time to live but finds joy in the anticipation of being again with the first man she ever loved. It is ironic that, having lost all his own children, Bjartur should seek out the daughter he had scorned as having none of his blood in her. Symbolically, the two strong independents are drawn to each other.
Gvendur, Bjartur's son who plans to join Nonni in America but who decides to remain at home after falling in love with Ingolfur's only daughter, who later shuns him as an inferior.
Jon (Nonni), Bjartur's younger son, who goes to America to join an uncle just before World War I.
Ingolfur Arnarson Jonsson, Asta's father, manager of a cooperative society.
Helgi, Bjartur and Finna's first son, lost on the moor.
Bailiff Jon of Myri, Bjartur's employer for eighteen years. Slovenly, like a tramp in appearance, he is nevertheless more forceful and complex than the men over whom he exerts authority. Bjartur dislikes him.
Madam Myri, poet wife of Bailiff Jon and mother of Ingolfur Arnarson. She has an aristocratic consciousness of her superiority to people like Bjartur and Rosa.
Thorthur of Nitherkot, Rosa's father, a serenely stoical old man.
Pastor Gudmundur, the parish minister, who is also an able farmer and breeder of fine sheep. Blunt and gruff in speech, he combines superficial Christian views with his apparent unconcern for unfortunate people whom he regards as contemptible sinners.
Hallbera, aged mother of Rosa.
Audur Jonsdottir, ladylike daughter of Bailiff Jon. When she leaves for Reykjavik, Bjartur suspects it is because she is pregnant by a man who camped on his land some time earlier.
Fritha, a talkative, complaining old woman who works one summer for Bjartur.