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The Emigrants
- 610 statements
- 120 feature instances
- 43 referencing feature instances
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A novel suite by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg, considered among the finest pieces of Swedish literature. The books have been translated into more than twenty languages, including English. The series consists of four books: The Emigrants The Immigrants (also published in English under the title Unto a Good Land) The Settlers The Last Letter HomeThe suite tells the story of a group of people who became the first in their parish to move from Sweden to the United States during the mid-19th century. They emigrate for a variety of reasons; some to find gold and become rich, some to avoid religious persecution, some to get away from stigmas that follow them in their home parish. But the main focus in the books lies on a family that emigrates to escape poverty.Karl Oskar and Kristina are a young married couple with an ever growing family who cannot make do on what little farm land they own. Their debt keeps growing, their crops keep failing and their situation keeps getting more desperate. Karl Oskar is very eager to move to America where they can farm as much land as they want and prosper from their hard work but Kristina doesn't want to go. She doesn't want to subject their children to the risks involved, pointing out that they don't know for sure what will happen in America or if they will even get any farm land there. She also reminds her husband that if they move they leave behind everything and everyone and will never get to see their parents, siblings and friends again. But when their oldest child dies from starvation Kristina agrees to move. Coming with them is Karl Oskar's brother Robert, his friend Arvid, Kristina's uncle Danjel and his family, the former town whore Ulrika and her daughter Elin, and Karl Oskar and Kristina's neighbour Jonas Petter.The four books chronicle the group's journey across the Atlantic, their travels across America until they find a place they can settle down and how they build a new community in the New Land. The large cast of characters allows Moberg to explore several different versions of the dream of the New Land, such as Robert's pursuit of gold and Danjel's desire to freely practice his religious beliefs, but the heart and focus of the story stays with Karl Oskar and Kristina. Karl Oskar loves his new home and all the opportunities it brings, the perfect example of a happy immigrant. Kristina on the other hand never grows to like America and spends her life longing back to Sweden, the perfect example of an unhappy immigrant.The series has a lot of gut-wrenching moments, with many tragedies befalling the various characters. It gives an honest portrayal of life in the mid-19th century and lets you get to know the characters really well. It is also very funny at times, with some witty dialogue and a character who loves to tell dirty stories. And the love story between Karl Oskar and Kristina is one of the simplest yet most captivating ones ever put on paper.Two film adaptations were made, one in 1971 (The Emigrants) and one in 1972 (The New Land). The films are in Swedish, starring Max von Sydow as Karl Oskar, Liv Ullmann as Kristina (earned her an Academy Award nomination), Monica Zetterlund as Ulrika and several high ranking Swedish actors in the supporting cast. The films, both directed by Jan Troell, are generally considered among the finest in Swedish film making. For tropes found in the 1971 film The Emigrants, see below. For tropes found in The New Land, see its work page.In 1995 a stage musical based on the books premiered, titled Kristina från Duvemåla (the English translation is simply known as Kristina), written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA. The show became a huge success and made stars out of Helen Sjöholm (Kristina) and Peter Jöback (Robert), the former so beloved in the role that she was the only Swedish cast member in the concert version of the English translation (reprising her role as Kristina). The English translation premiered in concert in 2009, getting mixed reviews both from fans of the original and from reviewers who had never seen the show before.2021 is seeing a remake film coming out (in Swedish, like the original), starring Gustaf Skarsgård as Karl Oskar. It has the under-title The Last Letter to Sweden, like the title of the fourth book, and appears to be covering all four books in one film. Most fans of the original film appear happy with the choice of Skarsgård as Karl Oskar, even though comparisons to von Sydow will be inevitable. | |
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2024-03-01T18:46:12Z | |
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2024-03-01T18:46:12Z | |
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Dropped link to PapaBear: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN | |
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The Emigrants / int_11b2e74f | type |
An Immigrant's Tale | |
The Emigrants / int_11b2e74f | comment |
An Immigrant's Tale: It's an epic saga of poor Swedish peasants who move to the new land called America to improve their situations. | |
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The Emigrants / int_1237828f | type |
Anyone Can Die | |
The Emigrants / int_1237828f | comment |
Anyone Can Die: Given that the books have multiple characters, and it's set in a gritty time period where there were numerous threats to one's life, there are quite a few people dead in each book. Characters whose deaths are portrayed include Kristina, Robert, Inga-Lena, Danjel, his two grown sons, his infant daughter, Arvid, young Anna, and finally Karl Oskar. | |
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The Emigrants / int_19da8a03 | type |
Incurable Cough of Death | |
The Emigrants / int_19da8a03 | comment |
Incurable Cough of Death: What Robert's illness seems like when he returns to the Nilsson settlement. He is said to have died of Yellow Fever. | |
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The Emigrants / int_19fe3478 | type |
Daddy's Girl | |
The Emigrants / int_19fe3478 | comment |
Daddy's Girl: Anna, Karl Oskar and Kristina's first child. She follows Karl Oskar around while he's at his work and Karl Oskar refers to her as his little helper. He's very deeply attached to her. It hits him all the harder when she dies at the tender age of four; he keeps her worn-out shoes as a memento to the point of taking them on the voyage to America. | |
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The Emigrants / int_1dfbbf31 | type |
Heterosexual Life-Partners | |
The Emigrants / int_1dfbbf31 | comment |
Heterosexual Life-Partners: Robert and Arvid. | |
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The Emigrants / int_1e584efa | type |
Cruel and Unusual Death | |
The Emigrants / int_1e584efa | comment |
Cruel and Unusual Death: Anna, a four-year-old girl, dies after having eaten too much porridge (following a prolonged period of near-starvation). The porridge swells inside her and ruptures parts of her digestive system. She dies in agony after a long night, and she dies believing that if only her parents would forgive her for eating the porridge the pain would go away. Arvid on the California Trail. Lost in the desert, he drinks poisonous water and, much like Anna, is put through hours of agony as the poison slowly takes him. | |
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The Emigrants / int_21f7ff0f | type |
Knight in Sour Armor | |
The Emigrants / int_21f7ff0f | comment |
Knight in Sour Armor: Captain Lorentz of the brig Charlotta that Karl Oskar and co. board to migrate. He has a rather low opinion of peasants in general and bemoans the problems of having to carry many people on a long voyage over the ocean, but deep down he worries about their well-being and does what he can when they need help. | |
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The Emigrants / int_23f1384a | type |
Babies Make Everything Better | |
The Emigrants / int_23f1384a | comment |
Babies Make Everything Better: One of the most realistic depictions of how while this trope isn't exactly true, your children can still be a source of great joy. Especially prominent in the chapters that deal with the birth of Danjel, Karl Oskar and Kristina's first child to be born in America. | |
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The Emigrants / int_2554f670 | type |
Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter | |
The Emigrants / int_2554f670 | comment |
Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: Karl Oskar is angry over how the drought is ruining their crops when the previous year too much rain ruined them. He takes a handful of hay and throws it to the sky, telling God to take it all while he's at it. Then thunder strikes their barn and what little they had been able to harvest is lost. | |
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The Emigrants / int_294ed981 | type |
Bilingual Bonus | |
The Emigrants / int_294ed981 | comment |
Bilingual Bonus: The songs A Sunday in Battery Park and To Think That Men Like Him Can Exist in the Swedish. | |
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The Emigrants / int_2a090d00 | type |
Lampshade Hanging | |
The Emigrants / int_2a090d00 | comment |
Ulrika and Kristina both lampshade the fact that if they had stayed in Sweden, a friendship between them would have been unthinkable. They hate each other in the first book, Kristina being a devout Protestant who believes Ulrika to be a whore with whom she shouldn't socialize, and Ulrika feeling that Kristina is stuck-up and has a holier-than-thou attitude. During the journey a strong, unbreakable friendship forms between the two women, but Kristina knows that none of her family and friends back in Sweden would understand or accept the friendship between them. This doesn't hinder their friendship in the slightest, luckily. | |
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The Emigrants / int_2b9e3fb0 | type |
Give Me a Sign | |
The Emigrants / int_2b9e3fb0 | comment |
Give Me a Sign: Having gone through seven pregnancies Kristina does not feel she can handle an eighth, she prays to God to spare her and when she realizes she's with child again she begins to doubt that God really exists. She prays to God to give her a sign of his existence, and when she miscarries and nearly dies in the process, she takes it as Him giving her a sign as well as chastising her. The sequence when she prays to God for him to exist became a Show Stopper in the musical. | |
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The Emigrants / int_3149c4b0 | type |
It Will Never Catch On | |
The Emigrants / int_3149c4b0 | comment |
It Will Never Catch On: Landberg thinks Chicago is a cesspool that'll eventually become "entirely depopulated and obliterated from the face of the earth". That's his opinion of the city that has become one of the most important and populated in all the USA. | |
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The Emigrants / int_317629db | type |
Embarrassing Nickname | |
The Emigrants / int_317629db | comment |
Embarrassing Nickname: Arvid is called the Bull at Nybacken after rumors spread that he's had sex with a cow. | |
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The Emigrants / int_31da1e24 | type |
Shipper on Deck | |
The Emigrants / int_31da1e24 | comment |
Shipper on Deck: Kristina for Ulrika and Henry. | |
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The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_31da1e24 | |
The Emigrants / int_33d5b7f2 | type |
Adapted Out | |
The Emigrants / int_33d5b7f2 | comment |
Adapted Out: Jonas Petter is absent in the musical. As are Fina Kajsa's husband and son, but they are minor characters. | |
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The Emigrants / int_34e3784f | type |
Please, Don't Leave Me | |
The Emigrants / int_34e3784f | comment |
Please, Don't Leave Me: Karl Oskar to Kristina, twice. | |
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The Emigrants / int_34e3784f | |
The Emigrants / int_355007c3 | type |
Brilliant, but Lazy | |
The Emigrants / int_355007c3 | comment |
Brilliant, but Lazy: Robert is the The Smart Guy of the main cast, but he also wants to avoid work. And even his search for gold is an attempt at becoming rich quickly, so he won't have to work again. However, being a Book Worm and not a sturdy farmer like Karl Oskar, Robert is merely trying to avoid any physical work. If he only had been allowed to continue his schooling and get an education, he would have excelled within that environment. But alas, his family is poor struggling farmers, so nobody seems to even see that as an option for him. | |
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The Emigrants / int_35b241c0 | type |
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping | |
The Emigrants / int_35b241c0 | comment |
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: In-story; Kristina berates Karl Oskar for gradually inserting more and more English words and idioms into his Swedish. | |
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The Emigrants | hasFeature |
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The Emigrants / int_35e077 | type |
Fourth-Date Marriage | |
The Emigrants / int_35e077 | comment |
Fourth-Date Marriage: Karl Oskar and Kristina only meet a few times over the course of about two years before he proposes to her. They do, however, spend a lot of time together while they are betrothed, including a lot of make-out sessions. | |
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The Emigrants / int_3b0bd0ab | type |
Thirsty Desert | |
The Emigrants / int_3b0bd0ab | comment |
Thirsty Desert: Arvid and Robert experience this. | |
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The Emigrants / int_3b0bd0ab | |
The Emigrants / int_3ff156fa | type |
Nay-Theist | |
The Emigrants / int_3ff156fa | comment |
Nay-Theist: Karl Oskar arguably becomes one after Kristina's death. | |
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The Emigrants / int_40cc0c7e | type |
Bittersweet Ending | |
The Emigrants / int_40cc0c7e | comment |
Bittersweet Ending: Karl Oskar and Kristina's settlement has grown into a prosperous farm, and their children have grown into healthy, happy adults, enjoying opportunities they most likely would not have in Sweden. The Nilsson family, together with their fellow Ljuder emigrants, have helped turned the wildland they settled in into a community. And Ulrika from Västergöhl found love, happiness and above all respect in their new homeland. But Danjel and his sons, along with many others, were brutally killed during the Indian uprising, none of the emigrants ever got to see the family they left behind, Arvid died a horrible death on the California trail and Robert died in his early twenties, having found gold but been swindled, and the last time he and his brother were together Karl Oskar hit him. As for Karl Oskar himself, he lost his beloved Kristina some thirty years before his own death and never got over the loss. | |
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The Emigrants / int_43b154c9 | type |
Not Even Bothering with the Accent | |
The Emigrants / int_43b154c9 | comment |
Not Even Bothering with the Accent: The characters are from Småland in Sweden, an area with several distinctive accents. Director Jan Troell left it up to the actors to decide if they wanted to use accent or not. Some did and some didn't. Liv Ullman makes a good attempt, but her natural Norwegian shines through on occasion. | |
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The Emigrants / int_4441d947 | type |
The Storyteller | |
The Emigrants / int_4441d947 | comment |
The Storyteller: Jonas Petter loves telling lewd stories, usually about men suffering at the hands of women. Some chapters are wholly dedicated to a tale of his. | |
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The Emigrants / int_4441d947 | |
The Emigrants / int_4560b6bb | type |
Gag Nose | |
The Emigrants / int_4560b6bb | comment |
Gag Nose: Both the narrator and other characters often take note of Karl Oskar's distinctly large nose, which is a trait passed down in his family that's thought to bring good luck and gives its bearer a number of good and bad personality traits; Karl Oskar's determination and always wanting to have his way are both attributed to his nose. | |
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The Emigrants / int_46a4f490 | type |
Carcass Sleeping Bag | |
The Emigrants / int_46a4f490 | comment |
Carcass Sleeping Bag: When Karl-Oskar and his son Johan are caught out in the open as a blizzard hits, the boy eventually collapses. Karl-Oskar saves Johan's life by slicing open the ox that was pulling their cart and stuffing Johan inside while he goes to get help. | |
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The Emigrants / int_48c99e19 | type |
Death by Adaptation | |
The Emigrants / int_48c99e19 | comment |
Death by Adaptation: Fina Kajsa's husband and son are both dead in the musical, whereas in the novel her husband dies on the journey across the Atlantic, and her son dies more than a decade after the group arrive in Minnesota. | |
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The Emigrants / int_48d9e12d | type |
Funetik Aksent | |
The Emigrants / int_48d9e12d | comment |
Funetik Aksent: Used heavily. Especially when characters begin to mix English with their Swedish. | |
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The Emigrants / int_48d9e12d | |
The Emigrants / int_49d59be9 | type |
Scenery Porn | |
The Emigrants / int_49d59be9 | comment |
Scenery Porn | |
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The Emigrants / int_49d59be9 | |
The Emigrants / int_4a2059bf | type |
Gold Fever | |
The Emigrants / int_4a2059bf | comment |
Gold Fever: Robert gets a dose of this. | |
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The Emigrants / int_4a2059bf | |
The Emigrants / int_4b316d47 | type |
Break the Cutie | |
The Emigrants / int_4b316d47 | comment |
Break the Cutie: Kristina. | |
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The Emigrants / int_4b316d47 | |
The Emigrants / int_500ecfb7 | type |
The Big Guy | |
The Emigrants / int_500ecfb7 | comment |
The Big Guy: Karl Oskar, played by 1.94 meters (roughly 6 foot 5 inches) Max von Sydow. | |
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The Emigrants / int_505ec51b | type |
Immigrant Patriotism | |
The Emigrants / int_505ec51b | comment |
Immigrant Patriotism: Karl Oskar is proud to become an American citizen, and volunteers for the Union Army during the Civil War (though he's rejected on medical grounds, to his chagrin); in his old age, he harbors bittersweet feelings about never seeing Sweden and his family there again, but he never regrets his decision to immigrate. | |
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The Emigrants / int_512b00e0 | type |
BSoD Song | |
The Emigrants / int_512b00e0 | comment |
BSoD Song: You Have To Be There. | |
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The Emigrants / int_512b00e0 | |
The Emigrants / int_524f94d3 | type |
Rape as Backstory | |
The Emigrants / int_524f94d3 | comment |
Rape as Backstory: Ulrika was raped by her foster father at the age of fourteen, with his logic being that she should start paying back for the care she's been given in the "only" way she can. That's why she became a prostitute. | |
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The Emigrants / int_524f94d3 | |
The Emigrants / int_531bf681 | type |
BookWorm | |
The Emigrants / int_531bf681 | comment |
Robert is the Book Worm of the group; Arvid is hardly able to read at all. But they still are best friends. | |
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The Emigrants / int_531bf681 | |
The Emigrants / int_550754dc | type |
Improbable Infant Survival | |
The Emigrants / int_550754dc | comment |
Improbable Infant Survival: Averted. Early in her marriage Kristina gave birth to fraternal twins, a girl and a boy. The girl, Märta, survived but the boy did not, dying after a week of life. A few years later they lose their first-born, Anna, in a horrifying manner. Danjel's baby daughter Eva dies on the steamboat on the Mississippi, presumably from cholera. And out of the four children Ulrika gave birth to in Sweden only Elin survived infancy. | |
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The Emigrants / int_550754dc | |
The Emigrants / int_55c72164 | type |
Death Song | |
The Emigrants / int_55c72164 | comment |
Death Song: Robert gets one, as does Kristina. | |
The Emigrants / int_55c72164 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_55c72164 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_55c72164 | |
The Emigrants / int_55edb17e | type |
Irrelevant Act Opener | |
The Emigrants / int_55edb17e | comment |
Irrelevant Act Opener: Overlords, or Emperors and Kings as it's called in the English translation. | |
The Emigrants / int_55edb17e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_55edb17e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_55edb17e | |
The Emigrants / int_5663a595 | type |
Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole | |
The Emigrants / int_5663a595 | comment |
Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Interestingly enough not by way of adapting the books into musical but by the musical itself being shortened for the 2015 production. The show has a running time of roughly four hours after having been trimmed down so you understand why they chose to cut some parts out. However the parts they cut sometimes cause leaps in the story. For instance with the song "Ljusa kvällar om våren" ("Bright Spring Evenings") they cut Kristina's second verse in which she begs God to bring her back to Sweden. Then Karl Oskar tells her that if she wants God to move her back to Sweden he will reach out his hand and keep her with him, prompting Kristina to reply: "So you heard what I prayed for?". Even though she no longer prayed for that. | |
The Emigrants / int_5663a595 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_5663a595 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_5663a595 | |
The Emigrants / int_598513bb | type |
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling | |
The Emigrants / int_598513bb | comment |
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Karl Oskar is a very hard working, pragmatic man who values honor and honesty. Robert is a dreamer with a strong dislike of physical labor, who fantasizes about finding gold and never having to work another day in his life. He is imaginative, to the point where he often makes stories up or embellishes on events, without always giving much thought to how truthful he's being. It's lampshaded by various characters, including the brothers and Kristina, who wonders how two brothers can be so different. | |
The Emigrants / int_598513bb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_598513bb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_598513bb | |
The Emigrants / int_60c90bd5 | type |
Orphan's Ordeal | |
The Emigrants / int_60c90bd5 | comment |
Orphan's Ordeal: Ulrika was orphaned at four and sold at an auction.note Not a slave auction, mind you: during the 19th century when Sweden was very poor, orphans and other uncared-for children where assigned to foster families by auction: the bidding was for remuneration, the lowest bidder getting the child. | |
The Emigrants / int_60c90bd5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_60c90bd5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_60c90bd5 | |
The Emigrants / int_615fdb1f | type |
Dream Sequence | |
The Emigrants / int_615fdb1f | comment |
Dream Sequence: What happened to Arvid and Robert on the California trail is told through Robert's dreams. | |
The Emigrants / int_615fdb1f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_615fdb1f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_615fdb1f | |
The Emigrants / int_6a4c6ec0 | type |
The Promised Land | |
The Emigrants / int_6a4c6ec0 | comment |
The Promised Land: As it often was in those days, America is treated as a near-mythical promised land for the poor and outcast. They do indeed find their promised land, but the price is very high, and Kristina never stops longing for her home in Sweden... | |
The Emigrants / int_6a4c6ec0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6a4c6ec0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_6a4c6ec0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6a974cae | type |
Forbidden Friendship | |
The Emigrants / int_6a974cae | comment |
Forbidden Friendship: Between Kristina and Ulrika, or rather it would have been back home in Sweden due to Ulrika being a former prostitute and Kristina an honourable women by the standards of their lutheran society. Kristina's neighbours in Minnesota very much consider their friendship forbidden, though they don't know about the prostitution - they pay a visit and try to demand that Kristina ends her friendship with Ulrika on account of the latter having converted to baptism. Kristina... refuses, to put it mildly. | |
The Emigrants / int_6a974cae | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6a974cae | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_6a974cae | |
The Emigrants / int_6b05b601 | type |
Jerkass Has a Point | |
The Emigrants / int_6b05b601 | comment |
Jerkass Has a Point: It is hard to see Vicar Brusander as anything but a pompous Well-Intentioned Extremist for his prosecution of Danjel's religious movement, but he still makes a few good points in his speech to Karl Oskar against emigration. Many people back then did leave Europe for America to escape the laws of their native countries, or only because they heard fanciful stories about how much better everything was over there. And how exactly would Europe survive, if all young people went to America and left their old parents at home? | |
The Emigrants / int_6b05b601 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6b05b601 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_6b05b601 | |
The Emigrants / int_6bda9a30 | type |
Meaningful Name | |
The Emigrants / int_6bda9a30 | comment |
Meaningful Name: Kristina from Duvemåla. Kristina was born on Duvemåla farm so the title can refer to where she was originally from. Karl Oskar names their home in America New Duvemåla to make her feel more at home, so it can also refer to where she ended up living. Either way it's an interesting choice of title since the book mostly talks about Korpamoen, Karl Oskar's home farm where they live when they get married. Their new home is rarely mentioned by name. | |
The Emigrants / int_6bda9a30 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6bda9a30 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_6bda9a30 | |
The Emigrants / int_6d332aea | type |
Driven to Suicide | |
The Emigrants / int_6d332aea | comment |
Driven to Suicide: Implied with Anders MÃ¥nsson, who disappears shortly after the death of his mother. His hat is found much later in a river and the other characters come to the conclusion that he drowned himself. | |
The Emigrants / int_6d332aea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6d332aea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_6d332aea | |
The Emigrants / int_6fd5262a | type |
Swing Low, Sweet Harriet | |
The Emigrants / int_6fd5262a | comment |
Swing Low, Sweet Harriet: Opens with Kristina on her swing. When the show ends her swing is lowered down on stage while Karl Oskar cries over her dead body. | |
The Emigrants / int_6fd5262a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_6fd5262a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_6fd5262a | |
The Emigrants / int_70ade2c4 | type |
Culture Clash | |
The Emigrants / int_70ade2c4 | comment |
Culture Clash: Ulrika sees the word "packet" inscribed on a wheelhouse on a steamer, which causes her to refuse to board because packet means rabble in Swedish, and Ulrika's done with being considered a lower class of person. The captain explains to her that the word actually stands for mail, which puts her at ease. | |
The Emigrants / int_70ade2c4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_70ade2c4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_70ade2c4 | |
The Emigrants / int_74149c93 | type |
Epic Rocking | |
The Emigrants / int_74149c93 | comment |
Epic Rocking: You Have To Be There. Written at the last minute when Benny Andersson felt they needed one more song and it became one of the two biggest hits from the show. It's the song Kristina sings when she begins to doubt that God even exists, having spent her entire life relying on God to pull her through. The most poignant line from the original, "You must exist, you must, so how can you then abandon me?" sadly does not make it to the English version. The song does an amazing job of describing what faith means to those who believe, especially considering that Björn Ulvaeus who wrote the lyrics is an atheist. | |
The Emigrants / int_74149c93 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_74149c93 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_74149c93 | |
The Emigrants / int_77063cd7 | type |
Hooker with a Heart of Gold | |
The Emigrants / int_77063cd7 | comment |
Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Ulrika from Västergöhl. Kristina hates her at first for being a dirty prostitute who went off the straight and narrow but during their journey across America she begins to see the kindness and warmth in Ulrika. The two end up becoming best friends. | |
The Emigrants / int_77063cd7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_77063cd7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_77063cd7 | |
The Emigrants / int_7eebe99c | type |
The Alcoholic | |
The Emigrants / int_7eebe99c | comment |
The Alcoholic: Anders MÃ¥nsson. | |
The Emigrants / int_7eebe99c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_7eebe99c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_7eebe99c | |
The Emigrants / int_808cbaeb | type |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking | |
The Emigrants / int_808cbaeb | comment |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: From the cover of the English translation of The Settlers: | |
The Emigrants / int_808cbaeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_808cbaeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_808cbaeb | |
The Emigrants / int_81241767 | type |
Smelly Skunk | |
The Emigrants / int_81241767 | comment |
Smelly Skunk: Karl Oskar and Kristina's son Johan catches a skunk and tries presenting it to Kristina thinking it's a cat. They don't know what it actually is since skunks are new world animals, until they get a nasty surprise when it sprays and stinks up the whole shanty. | |
The Emigrants / int_81241767 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_81241767 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_81241767 | |
The Emigrants / int_820133fd | type |
Tragic Hero | |
The Emigrants / int_820133fd | comment |
Tragic Hero: Many of the characters get a tragic ending, but still, Robert is the one out of the group who seems to never be allowed to catch any breaks. He is the Book Worm and "dreamer" of the main cast, who never was able to fit in with all the sturdy hard-working farmers around him. And from a modern point of view, the best thing would have been to just send him to school somewhere to get an education. But alas, his family is struggling farmers in the mid-19th century, so nobody seems to even consider helping him becoming anything but a farmhand. And to add to all of the misery, his master is a nasty sadist. It is during this hard time that Robert is introduced to his only friend Arvid, but otherwise, his life at this point is just like a nightmare. He decides to run away from his cruel master, and he plans to follow Karl Oskar to America, but not even leaving Sweden means that things become better for Robert. His romance with Elin is cut short before it even goes anywhere, and he never seems to be able to get near another girl. He sets out to find gold, but ends up watching Arvid's painful death and losing the gold he did find. And just a short while after he's back to Karl Oskar's new farm, he is found ill and dies from yellow fever. And he's only in his early 20s at his death, because he was from the "wrong" social class to be what he really was at heart: an intellectual, who could have had a career within any field of his choosing with the right education. But it was never meant to be... | |
The Emigrants / int_820133fd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_820133fd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_820133fd | |
The Emigrants / int_8338de89 | type |
"I Want" Song | |
The Emigrants / int_8338de89 | comment |
"I Want" Song: Down to the Sea. | |
The Emigrants / int_8338de89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_8338de89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_8338de89 | |
The Emigrants / int_85557b38 | type |
Reality Is Unrealistic | |
The Emigrants / int_85557b38 | comment |
Reality Is Unrealistic: For some international audiences, the scenes taking place during Swedish summer nights, such as Arvid and Robert wrestling over the axe, seem like a case of Special Effect Failure due the lighting seeming like its dusk. However, summer nights in Sweden are very bright, and even though Småland is far south of the midnight sun there's only a few short hours of actual darkness. The rest of the night is more a prolonged dusk/dawn. | |
The Emigrants / int_85557b38 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_85557b38 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_85557b38 | |
The Emigrants / int_88fd6847 | type |
Converting for Love | |
The Emigrants / int_88fd6847 | comment |
Converting for Love: Ulrika converts to Baptism in order to marry Pastor Jackson. When Danjel believes himself to be enlightened and righteous, he tells his wife Inga-Lena they cannot have sex anymore since they are not married in the eyes of God when she is not enlightened. Eventually she basically pretends to have been "enlightened" also and to share his beliefs and they once again live as husband and wife. | |
The Emigrants / int_88fd6847 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_88fd6847 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_88fd6847 | |
The Emigrants / int_8d6d9535 | type |
Artistic License – Medicine | |
The Emigrants / int_8d6d9535 | comment |
Artistic License – Medicine: Scurvy would not make a person bleed out of every orifice until they die of exsanguination. | |
The Emigrants / int_8d6d9535 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_8d6d9535 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_8d6d9535 | |
The Emigrants / int_8f00b02a | type |
Always Identical Twins | |
The Emigrants / int_8f00b02a | comment |
Always Identical Twins: Subverted almost to the point of Big-Lipped Alligator Moment. Kristina gives birth to fraternal twins but the boy only lives for about a week and is never brought up again, except for when Kristina at one point wonders if she's having twins again. The surviving twin, Märta, doesn't seem to be aware, or care, that she had a twin brother. | |
The Emigrants / int_8f00b02a | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Emigrants / int_8f00b02a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_8f00b02a | |
The Emigrants / int_8f4d6761 | type |
Epilogue Letter | |
The Emigrants / int_8f4d6761 | comment |
Epilogue Letter: The story ends with the last letter home, written by a friend of the family to inform the relatives in Sweden about the death of Karl Oskar. | |
The Emigrants / int_8f4d6761 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_8f4d6761 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_8f4d6761 | |
The Emigrants / int_92370007 | type |
The Modest Orgasm | |
The Emigrants / int_92370007 | comment |
The Modest Orgasm: While Kristina very much enjoys her sex life, she doesn't feel it's proper to let Karl Oskar know just how much. | |
The Emigrants / int_92370007 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_92370007 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_92370007 | |
The Emigrants / int_94c1e2f7 | type |
Grave-Marking Scene | |
The Emigrants / int_94c1e2f7 | comment |
Grave-Marking Scene: Karl Oskar frequently visits Kristina's grave. | |
The Emigrants / int_94c1e2f7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_94c1e2f7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_94c1e2f7 | |
The Emigrants / int_95c2a9dd | type |
Outliving One's Offspring | |
The Emigrants / int_95c2a9dd | comment |
Outliving One's Offspring: Kristina and Karl Oskar lose one child to starvation and almost lose another when she walks off in a crowdnote a truly terrifying scene - Märta walks off while the riverboat is making a brief stop to bring on more supplies and her parents desperately search for her knowing the boat will be leaving any minute and that their sons are on board, and they can't speak English so they can't communicate with anyone to help find Märta or keep the boat waiting a little longer. They also come close to losing a son in a snowstorm. | |
The Emigrants / int_95c2a9dd | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_95c2a9dd | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_95c2a9dd | |
The Emigrants / int_96e49d2e | type |
The Pioneer | |
The Emigrants / int_96e49d2e | comment |
The Pioneer: Karl Oskar. | |
The Emigrants / int_96e49d2e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_96e49d2e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_96e49d2e | |
The Emigrants / int_96e5792c | type |
Moral Guardians | |
The Emigrants / int_96e5792c | comment |
Moral Guardians: Karl Oskar and Kristina's new neighbors, who are deeply troubled by Kristina's close friendship to Ulrika, a woman who left the Swedish Lutheran Church and converted to Baptism. | |
The Emigrants / int_96e5792c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_96e5792c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_96e5792c | |
The Emigrants / int_975ba595 | type |
Sleep Cute | |
The Emigrants / int_975ba595 | comment |
Sleep Cute: Elin falls asleep on Robert's shoulder while the group is traveling to Karlshamn. Robert is pretty flustered until he falls asleep himself. Jonas Petter, who's riding with them, doesn't have the heart to wake them up. | |
The Emigrants / int_975ba595 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_975ba595 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_975ba595 | |
The Emigrants / int_97d54bb0 | type |
Tragic Keepsake | |
The Emigrants / int_97d54bb0 | comment |
Tragic Keepsake: Robert keeping Arvid's watch after the latter dies. | |
The Emigrants / int_97d54bb0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_97d54bb0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_97d54bb0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a0eeac39 | type |
Odd Name Out | |
The Emigrants / int_a0eeac39 | comment |
Odd Name Out: Moberg originally wrote it as a trilogy but his editors decided the third book was too long and split it up into two. Therefore the naming pattern of the first three books is broken and we have The Emigrants, The Immigrants, The Settlers and The Last Letter to Sweden. Karl Oskar and Kristina's youngest child is given an American name - Frank. His siblings all have Swedish names, though as they grow older the English speaking people in the community begin to call some of them by more Americanized versions of their names. Johan becomes John, Märta becomes Mary (why she isn't called Martha is anyone's guess), Danjel is soon shortened to Dan... | |
The Emigrants / int_a0eeac39 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a0eeac39 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_a0eeac39 | |
The Emigrants / int_a2245a73 | type |
Henpecked Husband | |
The Emigrants / int_a2245a73 | comment |
Hen Pecked Husband: Jonas-Petter lives in terror of his wife, and moves to America just to escape her. | |
The Emigrants / int_a2245a73 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a2245a73 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_a2245a73 | |
The Emigrants / int_a30c287 | type |
Good Parents | |
The Emigrants / int_a30c287 | comment |
Good Parents: Karl Oskar and Kristina, who do their best to raise their eight children well, and with a lot of love. Ulrika takes very good care of her bastard daughter Elin, who loves and respects her a lot in return even while knowing her occupation. The biggest reason Ulrika kept prostituting herself was so she had the money to raise and feed Elin properly. | |
The Emigrants / int_a30c287 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a30c287 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_a30c287 | |
The Emigrants / int_a52f8fdf | type |
Bolt of Divine Retribution | |
The Emigrants / int_a52f8fdf | comment |
Bolt of Divine Retribution: Karl Oskar, frustrated by the heat and lack of rain which is ruining the crops for the second year in a row, tosses hay towards the sky and tells God that since he took last year's harvest he might as well take this too. A while later lightning strikes the old field house where they store the harvested hay... Kristina flat-out tells him that the lightning and subsequent fire was God's punishment. | |
The Emigrants / int_a52f8fdf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a52f8fdf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_a52f8fdf | |
The Emigrants / int_a8b68a9c | type |
No Pregger Sex | |
The Emigrants / int_a8b68a9c | comment |
No Pregger Sex: Surprisingly averted. Kristina is pregnant with her fifth child when they emigrate and she laments being surrounded by other people at all times during her pregnancy since this is usually the only time she can relax and fully enjoy sex (not having to worry about getting pregnant when she already is pregnant). | |
The Emigrants / int_a8b68a9c | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a8b68a9c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_a8b68a9c | |
The Emigrants / int_a94eaaa4 | type |
Odd Friendship | |
The Emigrants / int_a94eaaa4 | comment |
Odd Friendship: Ulrika and Kristina both lampshade the fact that if they had stayed in Sweden, a friendship between them would have been unthinkable. They hate each other in the first book, Kristina being a devout Protestant who believes Ulrika to be a whore with whom she shouldn't socialize, and Ulrika feeling that Kristina is stuck-up and has a holier-than-thou attitude. During the journey a strong, unbreakable friendship forms between the two women, but Kristina knows that none of her family and friends back in Sweden would understand or accept the friendship between them. This doesn't hinder their friendship in the slightest, luckily. Danjel is a born-again Christian, deeply devout and with an intellectual bent. Jonas-Petter is a rough-and-tumble type whose great delights in life are lewd jokes (the filthier the better) and chewing tobacco. The two are thick as thieves and share a household for a long period after emigration, and when Jonas-Petter finally moves out, he settles as close to Danjel's plot as he can. Robert is the Book Worm of the group; Arvid is hardly able to read at all. But they still are best friends. | |
The Emigrants / int_a94eaaa4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_a94eaaa4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_a94eaaa4 | |
The Emigrants / int_aa79bac | type |
Parting-Words Regret | |
The Emigrants / int_aa79bac | comment |
Parting-Words Regret: The last time the Nilsson brothers are together, Karl Oskar slaps Robert quite hard across the face. He immediately begs for forgiveness, and is granted it more or less, but it's still something that haunts him for a long time after. | |
The Emigrants / int_aa79bac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_aa79bac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_aa79bac | |
The Emigrants / int_ac5054d4 | type |
Wound That Will Not Heal | |
The Emigrants / int_ac5054d4 | comment |
Wound That Will Not Heal: The boxing Robert takes to the ear ends up paining him for the rest of his life. | |
The Emigrants / int_ac5054d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_ac5054d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_ac5054d4 | |
The Emigrants / int_b179eb00 | type |
Tragic Bromance | |
The Emigrants / int_b179eb00 | comment |
Tragic Bromance: Arvid and Robert. | |
The Emigrants / int_b179eb00 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_b179eb00 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_b179eb00 | |
The Emigrants / int_b352e864 | type |
Sexless Marriage | |
The Emigrants / int_b352e864 | comment |
Sexless Marriage: Danjel and Inga Lena for a while after he believes he has become righteous. Not until she too says she's been reborn in Christ does he agree to have sex with her again. Kristina and Karl Oskar when they learn another pregnancy would kill her. They go back to having sex, only to have Kristina get pregnant again and die from a miscarriage. | |
The Emigrants / int_b352e864 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_b352e864 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_b352e864 | |
The Emigrants / int_b66699a2 | type |
Mundane Luxury | |
The Emigrants / int_b66699a2 | comment |
Mundane Luxury: Karl Oskar complains about the meagre amount of tools he could bring to America. Anders MÃ¥nsson points out that he has three axe-heads, which makes him a wealthy man by frontier standards, and claims that many men showed up owning no tools beyond a belt knife and a half-share of an axe. | |
The Emigrants / int_b66699a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_b66699a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_b66699a2 | |
The Emigrants / int_b6de94d1 | type |
Executive Meddling | |
The Emigrants / int_b6de94d1 | comment |
Moberg originally wrote it as a trilogy but his editors decided the third book was too long and split it up into two. Therefore the naming pattern of the first three books is broken and we have The Emigrants, The Immigrants, The Settlers and The Last Letter to Sweden. | |
The Emigrants / int_b6de94d1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_b6de94d1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_b6de94d1 | |
The Emigrants / int_b7920c43 | type |
Lost in Translation | |
The Emigrants / int_b7920c43 | comment |
Lost in Translation: Unfortunately, most of the beauty and magic of the Swedish original. | |
The Emigrants / int_b7920c43 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_b7920c43 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_b7920c43 | |
The Emigrants / int_ba759edf | type |
Naturalized Name | |
The Emigrants / int_ba759edf | comment |
Naturalized Name: Upon being naturalized as a U.S. citizen, Karl Oskar Nilson changes his legal name to Charles O. Nelson; which name he uses is somewhat situationally specific, though. | |
The Emigrants / int_ba759edf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_ba759edf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_ba759edf | |
The Emigrants / int_be30e493 | type |
Undignified Death | |
The Emigrants / int_be30e493 | comment |
Undignified Death: Fina Kajsa dies out in the potato field, and when Karl Oskar finds her it's suggested that the body has been lying there for some time. | |
The Emigrants / int_be30e493 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_be30e493 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_be30e493 | |
The Emigrants / int_bec0417c | type |
Happily Married | |
The Emigrants / int_bec0417c | comment |
Happily Married: Many of the couples in the books (though far from all), but Karl Oskar and Kristina especially. | |
The Emigrants / int_bec0417c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_bec0417c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_bec0417c | |
The Emigrants / int_c209fc7 | type |
Chaste Hero | |
The Emigrants / int_c209fc7 | comment |
Chaste Hero: Robert gets a budding romance with Elin, but it doesn't really go anywhere. And afterwards, he can't seem to get close to any other woman. | |
The Emigrants / int_c209fc7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c209fc7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c209fc7 | |
The Emigrants / int_c23525d4 | type |
Character Title | |
The Emigrants / int_c23525d4 | comment |
Character Title: The musical puts its main focus on Kristina. | |
The Emigrants / int_c23525d4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c23525d4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c23525d4 | |
The Emigrants / int_c2c92862 | type |
Unwanted Spouse | |
The Emigrants / int_c2c92862 | comment |
Unwanted Spouse: Brita-Stafva, Jonas Petter's wife. To the point where the only reason he emigrates is to get away from her. | |
The Emigrants / int_c2c92862 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c2c92862 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c2c92862 | |
The Emigrants / int_c313d43a | type |
True Companions | |
The Emigrants / int_c313d43a | comment |
True Companions: The group from Ljuder become this in the second book, eventually pooling their food and functioning as one household. Once they settle they live apart from one another but remain close for the duration of their lives. | |
The Emigrants / int_c313d43a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c313d43a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c313d43a | |
The Emigrants / int_c3c18143 | type |
Hope Spot | |
The Emigrants / int_c3c18143 | comment |
Hope Spot: After his return from California, Robert finds a job he likes, working as a journalist and assistant editor at a Swedish-language newspaper. He dies of yellow fever less than a month later. | |
The Emigrants / int_c3c18143 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c3c18143 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c3c18143 | |
The Emigrants / int_c3fbac64 | type |
Bestiality Is Depraved | |
The Emigrants / int_c3fbac64 | comment |
Bestiality Is Depraved: Arvid is plagued by false rumors that he had sex with a cow and this why he chooses to emigrate. Some comments are made about how settlers will often turn to their cattle because there are so few women around. By the same token, Robert gets told tales about prospectors decking out their mules in dresses and perfume before doing the deed so they will have the illusion of being with a woman. | |
The Emigrants / int_c3fbac64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c3fbac64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c3fbac64 | |
The Emigrants / int_c730d1f9 | type |
Overcome Their Differences | |
The Emigrants / int_c730d1f9 | comment |
Overcome Their Differences: Kristina and Ulrika have a song about it. | |
The Emigrants / int_c730d1f9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_c730d1f9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_c730d1f9 | |
The Emigrants / int_ccc0d531 | type |
Settling the Frontier | |
The Emigrants / int_ccc0d531 | comment |
Settling the Frontier: Claiming new land and building a new life in the wilds of Minnesota. | |
The Emigrants / int_ccc0d531 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_ccc0d531 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_ccc0d531 | |
The Emigrants / int_d03fc3f1 | type |
Good Shepherd | |
The Emigrants / int_d03fc3f1 | comment |
Good Shepherd: Pastor Jackson and Pastor Törner. | |
The Emigrants / int_d03fc3f1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_d03fc3f1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_d03fc3f1 | |
The Emigrants / int_d148b019 | type |
Mundane Made Awesome | |
The Emigrants / int_d148b019 | comment |
Mundane Made Awesome: The musical has an entire song devoted to a stove, hailing it as "a blessing from the Angel of Christmas". | |
The Emigrants / int_d148b019 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_d148b019 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_d148b019 | |
The Emigrants / int_d29a6629 | type |
Death by Childbirth | |
The Emigrants / int_d29a6629 | comment |
Death by Childbirth: How it ends. Except it's a miscarriage not a birth. | |
The Emigrants / int_d29a6629 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_d29a6629 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_d29a6629 | |
The Emigrants / int_d6b5f05f | type |
Friendship Moment | |
The Emigrants / int_d6b5f05f | comment |
Friendship Moment: Kristina going absolutely livid at her neighbours when they try to talk her into cutting Ulrika out of her life. The neighbours tell her, among other things, to never let Ulrika into her house again, and when Kristina a few months later gives birth to a daughter she names her Ulrika - thereby showing them that there will always be an Ulrika in her house and family. | |
The Emigrants / int_d6b5f05f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_d6b5f05f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_d6b5f05f | |
The Emigrants / int_da12bcfb | type |
You Can't Go Home Again | |
The Emigrants / int_da12bcfb | comment |
You Can't Go Home Again: Kristina points out to Karl Oskar before they move that if they emigrate they will never get to see their home parish again, nor their friends and family. In America Kristina is terribly homesick and it doesn't get better that she knows she can never return to where she feels her real home is. Karl-Oskar, for most of his life in America, is a happy settler. When he grows old, though (and is widowed and also unable to work after an accident) he manages to get his hands on a map of his old Swedish socken (approximately parish). He spends his idle and lonely hours tracing out the paths he used to walk there in his youth. | |
The Emigrants / int_da12bcfb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_da12bcfb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_da12bcfb | |
The Emigrants / int_dc292b90 | type |
Ear Ache | |
The Emigrants / int_dc292b90 | comment |
Ear Ache: Robert suffers from chronic pain in his ear and tinnitus, having been boxed over the ear by his master at Nybacken. | |
The Emigrants / int_dc292b90 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_dc292b90 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_dc292b90 | |
The Emigrants / int_dc579c91 | type |
Contrived Coincidence | |
The Emigrants / int_dc579c91 | comment |
Contrived Coincidence: It seems just a bit too unlikely that on the same night as Kristina nearly bleeds to death from scurvy, Inga-Lena should die from that same disease. | |
The Emigrants / int_dc579c91 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_dc579c91 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_dc579c91 | |
The Emigrants / int_dcb9c541 | type |
Ship Tease | |
The Emigrants / int_dcb9c541 | comment |
Ship Tease: Robert and Elin show a lot of interest in each other, much to Ulrika's dismay. However, they have a falling out early on in The Immigrants and Robert soon leaves the others and heads off to California. | |
The Emigrants / int_dcb9c541 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_dcb9c541 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_dcb9c541 | |
The Emigrants / int_e13156e1 | type |
Mama Bear | |
The Emigrants / int_e13156e1 | comment |
Mama Bear: Ulrika. | |
The Emigrants / int_e13156e1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_e13156e1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_e13156e1 | |
The Emigrants / int_e567510d | type |
Determinator | |
The Emigrants / int_e567510d | comment |
Determinator: Ulrika in her song Never. | |
The Emigrants / int_e567510d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_e567510d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_e567510d | |
The Emigrants / int_e680af6f | type |
Grief Song | |
The Emigrants / int_e680af6f | comment |
Grief Song: Gold Can Turn To Sand. | |
The Emigrants / int_e680af6f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_e680af6f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_e680af6f | |
The Emigrants / int_e7cb46d3 | type |
Satellite Character | |
The Emigrants / int_e7cb46d3 | comment |
Satellite Character: Jonas Petter, who was Adapted Out from the musical. Starting halfway through the second book Danjel Andreasson also becomes one. | |
The Emigrants / int_e7cb46d3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_e7cb46d3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_e7cb46d3 | |
The Emigrants / int_ed874c14 | type |
Self-Made Man | |
The Emigrants / int_ed874c14 | comment |
Self-Made Man: Upon arriving in Minnesota, Karl Oskar literally has nothing but the things he brought in the America Chest. His family spends the first weeks living in what could generously be called a shanty, followed by a few years in a tiny log cabin. But in time, and through hard and incessant labor, he creates a large, prosperous farm that can with ease support him, his six living children and Johan's growing family. Much of Karl Oskar's drive and motivation is that he believes in people prospering through their own labor, but back home in Sweden he never had the resources to make his farm grow and prosper, no matter how much hard work he invested into it. | |
The Emigrants / int_ed874c14 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_ed874c14 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_ed874c14 | |
The Emigrants / int_edfacbac | type |
Covert Pervert | |
The Emigrants / int_edfacbac | comment |
Covert Pervert: Due to the morals of the time, Kristina won't be open about how much she enjoys sex with Karl Oskar (as it was thought women weren't supposed to enjoy sex, else they were harlots), but she frequently admits in her thoughts she does enjoy it very much. | |
The Emigrants / int_edfacbac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_edfacbac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_edfacbac | |
The Emigrants / int_eee99653 | type |
Can't Have Sex, Ever | |
The Emigrants / int_eee99653 | comment |
Can't Have Sex, Ever: In the fourth book, Karl Oskar and Kristina learn from the doctor that she will not survive another birth or miscarriage and have no reliable means of birth control other than not having sex at all. | |
The Emigrants / int_eee99653 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_eee99653 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_eee99653 | |
The Emigrants / int_f0c4ce7d | type |
The Lost Lenore | |
The Emigrants / int_f0c4ce7d | comment |
The Lost Lenore: Karl Oskar never re-marries and never gets over the death of Kristina in the latter half of book four. | |
The Emigrants / int_f0c4ce7d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_f0c4ce7d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_f0c4ce7d | |
The Emigrants / int_f3fd818b | type |
Dark Reprise | |
The Emigrants / int_f3fd818b | comment |
Dark Reprise: The reprise of Down to the Sea. | |
The Emigrants / int_f3fd818b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_f3fd818b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_f3fd818b | |
The Emigrants / int_f516f938 | type |
Never Found the Body | |
The Emigrants / int_f516f938 | comment |
Never Found the Body: All they found of Anders MÃ¥nsson after he presumably drowned himself was a hat. | |
The Emigrants / int_f516f938 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_f516f938 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_f516f938 | |
The Emigrants / int_f765e2d3 | type |
Dying Alone | |
The Emigrants / int_f765e2d3 | comment |
Dying Alone: Robert runs off after fighting with Karl Oskar over bringing home worthless paper money and ends up dying all alone after a day or so of wandering aimlessly around the lake in a state of despondency. Fina Kajsa dies in the potato field, trying to work on it while Anders is lying in bed drunk. Karl Oskar is the first to find the body hours later. Following this, Anders apparently drowns himself. | |
The Emigrants / int_f765e2d3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_f765e2d3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_f765e2d3 | |
The Emigrants / int_f9f2c33 | type |
Running Gag | |
The Emigrants / int_f9f2c33 | comment |
Running Gag: Jonas Petter loves to tell stories, the dirtier the better, but there is one he never seems to get to tell, a story about a farmer who paid a soldier to produce an heir for him. He starts telling the story countless times over several years and doesn't get to actually tell it until the later half of the last book. | |
The Emigrants / int_f9f2c33 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_f9f2c33 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_f9f2c33 | |
The Emigrants / int_fd4f8299 | type |
Well-Intentioned Extremist | |
The Emigrants / int_fd4f8299 | comment |
Well-Intentioned Extremist: Vicar Brusander. He's a very difficult character to like from a modern point of view, when he masterminds a prosecution of Danjel's harmless religious movement, but at this point in Swedish history, dissenting from the established Lutheran church is still against the law. And the vicar hardly is the only person in the parish who has become suspicious of what Danjel might be up to. Furthermore, it seems like the vicar also thinks that punishing Danjel and his followers is for the best of the people. His belief is that if everybody could choose their own faith, society would be plunged into chaos. So even though the story naturally puts most of the sympathy with the dissenters, Vicar Brusander is still portrayed as this trope rather than a one-dimensional villain. | |
The Emigrants / int_fd4f8299 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_fd4f8299 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_fd4f8299 | |
The Emigrants / int_fd86da63 | type |
Crisis of Faith | |
The Emigrants / int_fd86da63 | comment |
Crisis of Faith: The devoted Kristina begins to doubt God's existence when it seems like he has not heard her prayer where she asked him not to bless her with child again. She becomes faithful again when she has a miscarriage, interpreting it as God's punishment. The moment where she questions her belief in God and begs Him to exist is the most famous song from the musical, both in Swedish and in English. | |
The Emigrants / int_fd86da63 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_fd86da63 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_fd86da63 | |
The Emigrants / int_fe614133 | type |
Beauty Is Never Tarnished | |
The Emigrants / int_fe614133 | comment |
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted. Kristina, Karl Oskar and Robert are all played by very attractive people but Robert is often covered in dirt, and the hard lives they lead leave distinct marks upon them. When Kristina is on her death bed she is still in her thirties, but looks closer to fifty. Karl Oskar looks quite worn and torn, as well. | |
The Emigrants / int_fe614133 | featureApplicability |
-0.3 | |
The Emigrants / int_fe614133 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_fe614133 | |
The Emigrants / int_feaf12e8 | type |
Survivor Guilt | |
The Emigrants / int_feaf12e8 | comment |
Survivor Guilt: Robert following the death of Arvid on the California trail. | |
The Emigrants / int_feaf12e8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_feaf12e8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_feaf12e8 | |
The Emigrants / int_ffad4e9f | type |
Shown Their Work | |
The Emigrants / int_ffad4e9f | comment |
Shown Their Work: A surprising amount of the original song lyrics feature direct, or very nearly so, quotes from Moberg's text. Things have been moved around here and there, but if you know the songs of the musical by heart you'll recognize a fair amount when you then read the books in their original language. Björn Ulvaeus truly outdid himself. | |
The Emigrants / int_ffad4e9f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_ffad4e9f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_ffad4e9f | |
The Emigrants / int_name | type |
ItemName | |
The Emigrants / int_name | comment |
||
The Emigrants / int_name | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants / int_name | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Emigrants | hasFeature |
The Emigrants / int_name | |
The Emigrants / int_name | itemName |
The Emigrants |
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