Giants in the Earth Book I, Chapter VI—"The Heart That Dared Not Let in the Sun" Summary & Analysis

Summary

As winter approaches the prairie, the sky darkens, the days shorten, and the weather chills. Per Hansa works hard to prepare for the winter, always busy with dreams and schemes. He whitewashes the interior of the sod house, and he catches fish and ducks with his net. Beret grows more and more desolate, unable to share in Per's good mood. Beret's neighbors rarely visit her now because they feel uncomfortable being around her. One day, everyone visits Per and Beret to see the whitewashed walls. Everyone praises Per for whitewashing his house, but Hans warns Per about becoming too vain.

Per feels restless about being indoors all day, and he sleeps all the time. As the snow falls and the temperature drops, the winter becomes increasingly fierce. One evening, Tonseten and Kjersti visit Per and Beret. Another evening, Hans and Sorine visit. Both Kjersti and Sorine give Beret presents for her expected baby.

Per worries about Beret more and more, noticing that she acts strangely but feeling unable to communicate with her. Beret often cries, does not eat or sleep, becomes forgetful and loses things, and no longer takes care of her appearance. Beret tidies herself up only when Per delicately calls her attention to the fact that she is unkempt. She continues to act morosely. Per tries to convince himself that everything will be alright after she has her baby. He continues to grow restless with inactivity. When Per makes Beret some wooden clogs to keep her feet warm, she thanks him coldly by asking why he failed to make the shoes earlier.

One day, Per gets into an argument with Henry Solum. Henry tells Per that he wants to leave the settlement for the winter and return to the East. Per thinks that the Solums are cowards. Beret, however, tells Per that she understands why the Solums want to leave, and the two get into an argument. Per visits Hans and Sorine and asks Sorine to talk to Beret. Next, Per, Tonseten, and Hans Olsa try to persuade the Solum brothers to stay. They offer the Solum brothers positions as teachers for the children of the settlement. While the Solums are at first reluctant, Per pleads with them until they agree to stay.

Beret feels increasingly unhappy. She thinks that God is punishing her for all of her sins. She remembers how she conceived Ole out of wedlock. She regrets that she disobeyed her parents, first by marrying Per and then by leaving them to emigrate to America. She also recalls how she loved Per so much that she would have done anything he asked. Even though she did not want to move to America, she agreed when Per persuaded her to leave Norway and move to the West. Beret thinks about death often, and thinks that her death will serve as retribution to her sins. She even begins to plan her own funeral. She regrets having to be buried in America, but decides that she would like to be buried in her seventeenth-century emigrant chest, which belonged to her great-grandfather.

At Christmas, Sorine and Kjersti stay with Beret as she goes into labor. Per feels deeply concerned about Beret's condition. She alarms him even further when she tells him that she is convinced that she will die. He tries to comfort her without success. Beret says that she wants to be buried and that she wants the family to return to Norway. She suffers a difficult delivery while Per paces around outside, in tears. Beret finally gives birth to a boy. While both mother and baby appear fine, Sorine tells Per that the child should be baptized at once. Sorine also tells him that the baby was born with a caul, which is considered good luck. Per fetches Hans Olsa to baptize the baby, and Per decides to name the baby Peder Victorious. It is Christmas Day and everyone celebrates.

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