"I could hardly go on with the service when I saw them sitting in church; it was a better sermon than any I could ever preach. Ingmar will be a credit to us all, as his father before him was."
After retrieving Brita, Ingmar honors her wishes and brings her to church, as during her imprisonment, she renewed and strengthened her religious devotion. However, during the sermon, the other parishioners shun Brita and whisper about her. Though still angry with Brita and unsure how to proceed, Ingmar makes the unprecedented choice to sit by Brita on the women's side of the church, demonstrating his forgiveness and faithfulness. As the Dean explains, this silent act was a more remarkable testament to the power of love and forgiveness than adhering strictly to the rules of Christianity. Thus, in the Dean's estimation, Ingmar becomes worthy of his family's honored legacy through this act. The Dean's proclamation also foreshadows the future tensions in the text, as villagers struggle to balance the "letter of the law" that Hellgum preaches and the "spirit of the law" that the Ingmarssons embody.
"The ways of Providence cannot be reasoned out by the finite mind," he mused. "I cannot fathom them, yet seeking to know them is the most satisfying thing in all the world."
Throughout the text, characters attempt to find meaning and direction in a rapidly changing world. At first, the parson resists Storm's idea of starting a mission house, fearing the community's social structure evolving. However, reflecting on Big Ingmar's death, he recognizes that each individual seeks truth and answers, though no one ever definitively finds them. However, many characters unwaveringly cling to strict beliefs and religious codes. Hellgum believes his theology is the only path to heaven and attempts to convert the entire village, encouraging his followers to disconnect from community members who refuse to convert. Likewise, Strong Ingmar clings to his belief that the Ingmarssons "walk in the ways of God," making Big Ingmar the arbiter of morality. These examples of religious devotion illustrate the inherent tension and value in trying to find answers during times of significant change.
"No, they were unquestionably sound from the start; but it may be that they have become a little rusty, as it were, from neglect. In any perfect mechanism, if a cog happens to slip—only one tiny little cog—instantly the whole machinery stops!"
While attempting to convert Halvor to his religion, Hellgum compares modern Christianity to a machine. Hellgum believes Christ's teachings were "unquestionably sound" like new, well-designed machines, but over time, they were corrupted by human beings, similar to a machine rusting and malfunctioning. Hellgum's analogy demonstrates his disconnection from the village and marks him as an outsider. He invokes the language of modernity and industrialization, which contrasts sharply with Halvor's idyllic, pastoral world. Hellgum's new, harsh ideas disrupt and damage the community's spiritual life, just as industrialization and modernization damage its economy.
"That an old country schoolmaster should sometimes be a little too self-confident is not surprising: for well nigh a lifetime he has imparted knowledge and given advice to his fellowmen. He sees that all the peasants are living by what he has taught, and that not one among them knows more than what he, their schoolmaster, has told them.”
The remote village has only one school and one schoolteacher, Storm, which limits the community's education and opportunities but also promotes unity through their shared knowledge base and understanding of reality. Hellgum's arrival in the village disrupts this unity as he introduces new ideas and interpretations of the world. This change creates an adversarial relationship between Storm and Hellgum, especially as the latter refuses to allow the children of his followers to attend public school. However, as this quotation reveals, Storm and Hellgum share important mindsets and character flaws. Both men enjoy providing answers and the exclusivity of their position, believing their knowledge gives them power and authority over others. Thus, Storm's hatred of Hellgum is somewhat ironic, and their parallel characters reveal the danger of believing in definitive answers.
"Yes, it's a fine doctrine that Hellgum is spreading! That's why half the parish has gone over to him. No one has ever had such absolute influence over the people, not even Strong Ingmar himself. He separates children from their parents by preaching that those who are of his fold must not live among sinners. Hellgum need only beckon, and brother leaves brother, friend leaves friend, and the lover deserts his betrothed. He has used his power to create strife and dissension in every household. Of course, Big Ingmar would have been pleased to death with that sort of thing! Doubtless he would have backed Hellgum up in all this! I can just picture him doing it!"
Using sarcasm, Strong Ingmar reprimands Ingmar for entertaining Hellgum's theology and defending Hellgum's role in the community. In this quotation, Strong Ingmar reveals his dedication to and admiration for the departed Big Ingmar. For Strong Ingmar and many other villagers, having an Ingmarsson assume a leadership role creates and indicates a sense of social stability. However, because Ingmar is disconnected from his farm, he cannot step into this role. Strong Ingmar's uncharacteristic, vehement sarcasm demonstrates his fear that Hellgum is exploiting a power vacuum, as well as Strong Ingmar's belief that Ingmar can fill this vacuum by accepting his legacy as Ingmar Ingmarsson.
On seeing Gertrude so changed, a sense of supreme happiness came to Ingmar. A peaceful stillness pervaded his whole being; it was as though he were in the presence of something great and holy. It was all so beautiful that he wanted to go down on his knees and thank God.
After spending the season apart, Ingmar visits Gertrude, whom he loves and hopes to marry. Gertrude, however, has turned to Hellgum's religion to process her grief over Ingmar's absence. Upon seeing Gertrude in an idyllic garden setting, Ingmar is overcome by her beauty, his romantic love a spiritual experience. Ironically, the changes Ingmar admires in Gertrude result from her spiritual awakening, which eventually compels her to abandon their romance. Ingmar's emotions and reflections contrast sharply with Hellgum's theological doctrine. While Hellgum believes his version of Christianity is the only path to salvation and truth, villagers like Ingmar experience God's presence in nature, romantic love, and friendship. Hellgum interprets these unorthodox expressions of faith as blasphemy. This tension demonstrates the themes of religious devotion and unity and division.
Her spirit, rejoicing in the thought of casting off the heavy shackles of human existence, jubilantly prepared to ascend to its real home.
Dying in the aftermath of a shipwreck, Mrs. Gordon has a spiritual experience where she believes she hears the voice of God explaining the value of unity. Her children dead, Mrs. Gordon reflects that through death, she will return to her "real home," meaning heaven. Throughout the text, characters grapple with the concept of "home." Some, like the Storms, find "home" in relationships with others, some, like Ingmar and Hök Matts Ericsson, believe "home" is contained in their ancestral land. Most notably, the Hellgumists find "home" in their spiritual community, which forsakes relationships and ancestral land in order to build a home in Jerusalem. When Mrs. Gordon is rescued, she embraces the Hellgumist interpretation of "home," founding a commune in Jerusalem, her near-death experience providing her with a spiritual mission.
“Alas! those who live on the lowlands, under an open sky, can never understand what it is to be afraid. They don't think the same thoughts as do those of us who live in the solitude of the dark forest."
Eva, an old woman who lives alone in the forest, joins the Hellgumists, becoming one of Hellgum's most devoted and legalistic followers. She judges those living in the town for rejecting Hellgum's teachings and believes they will soon suffer the wrath of God. Meetings with the Hellgumists are Eva's primary source of social connection, and before joining the faith, she was often ignored or excluded, living on the fringes of society. In this quotation, she expresses multiple layered truths. First, she explains the privilege of community, comparing the struggles of those who live in town with the realities of her own harsh, lonely life. Because she has experienced physical solitude, the need for and appeal of religion affects her more strongly. Eva's reflection takes on a second meaning; the "solitude of the dark forest" refers literally to where Eva makes her home and metaphorically to the ignorance and loneliness she experiences. These dual elements of solitude and exclusion explain Eva's religious zealotry and the importance of her community.
God's country should no longer lie waste; they would transform it into a paradise. And no one was able to turn them from their purpose.
The Hellgumists choose to leave for Jerusalem to find their spiritual fulfillment and because they believe their labor can solve the political unrest and poverty in the region. This sentiment is ironic because the Hellgumists' religion and choice to emigrate to Jerusalem causes severe division and turmoil within the community they leave behind. For example, Gertrude and Ingmar's relationship is destroyed because he must marry another to save Ingmar Farm when Karin and Halvor sell it to finance their trip to Jerusalem. Once essential community members, the parson and the Storms are regarded as outcasts after they vocally oppose the Hellgumists. Hök Matts Ericsson, unwilling to part with his farm, stays behind while his son Gabriel travels to Jerusalem, both understanding that they will likely never meet again.
In addition to this social disruption, the Hellgumists' mission to "transform" Jerusalem has severe economic consequences for the community that, before Hellgum's arrival, was portrayed as a pastoral "paradise." The Hellgumists sell their farms to the highest bidder, inevitably a large logging company with a reputation for overworking the land and economically exploiting the local people. Thus, the Hellgumists inflict the poverty and turmoil they intend to resolve on their own community.
They felt sad at having to leave their dear old bridge, for they knew it was something which belonged to all of them. Houses and farms, groves and meadows, were owned by different persons, but the bridge was their common property. But was there nothing else that they had in common? Had they not the church in among the birches on the other side of the bridge? Had they not the pretty white schoolhouse, and the parsonage?
As the pilgrims travel to the train station that will eventually lead them to Jerusalem, they mournfully admire the beauty of their homeland and reflect on their community. This quotation exemplifies the theme "Connection to Land and Community." Though the Hellgumists rejected their village, condemning their neighbors' religious beliefs, withdrawing socially, and eventually departing for Jerusalem, they still feel a sense of attachment to and ownership over their homeland. This quotation calls attention to the public spaces, such as the schoolhouse and the parsonage, where the community gathered before Hellgum but later became targets of Hellgum's ire. The Hellgumists refused to go to church or send their children to school, but upon leaving, they realize how vital those institutions were to their identity and sense of home.
