Concepts
When Reverend Jon tells Toti that travelling to Kornsa is suicide and God wouldn't want it, Toti responds, "It is God’s will... God will forgive me”.
What concept does this apply to?
Religion
Which two characters bond over their impending death?
Agnes and Margret.
"God knows I have met enough men to know that once weaned off the breast they begin to lie through their teeth."
What cultural assumption does this imply?
Men lie and can't be trusted.
What do the ravens symbolise?
(HINT: Two answers)
Death and intelligence.
Lauga says, "A traveling man [...] prophesied that an axe would fall on [Agnes'] head.”
How is the reader positioned here?
(Bonus points for identifying AF/SD)
Reader positioning: Agnes was always meant to die and society believes in fate.
AF/SD: Foreshadowing, dialogue
[Agnes about Natan]: "He knew me as one knows the seasons, knows the tide."
What concepts does this link to?
(Two for the full points)
Love, Identity, Relationships, Deception, Betrayal
When Lauga tells her parents that Blondal visited:
"Jon sat up a little and looked down at his daughter. 'The District Commissioner?' he repeated.
Margret clenched her fists. 'What did he want?' she asked."
This moment positions readers to view Jon and Margret's juxtaposing attitudes towards Blondal. What are these attitudes?
Jon = respects Blondal and wants to impress him.
Margret = dislike/resentment towards Blondal.
Sigga is romanticised by Blondal, whereas Agnes is villainised. Why? What cultural assumption does this link to?
Sigga = naive
Agnes = intelligent
Cultural assumption = women who are intelligent cannot be trusted.
"They pick a mouse to tame a cat."
In this metaphor, who is the mouse and who is the cat? How does this characterise these characters?
Mouse = Toti
Cat = Agnes
Toti is characterised as weak-willed and naive, Agnes is characterised as a predator.
Toti says, "To know what a person has done, and to know who a person is, are very different things.”
What meaning is implied here?
(Bonus points for characterisation of Toti)
Meaning = people's characters are not defined by their actions.
Bonus points = characterises Toti as an empathetic person, perhaps more emotionally intelligent than people realise.
Natan: "Remember your place, Agnes!"
What concepts does this link to?
(Three for full points)
Gender, control, inequity, inhumanity, belonging, violence, ownership, relationships
When talking to Blondal:
Toti reddened. 'I am afraid you're not mistaken, sir. All attempts to press the condemned with sermons had adverse effect. Instead, I...I encourage her to speak of her past. Rather than address her, I allow her to speak to me. I provide her with a final audience to her life's lonely narrative.'
'Do you pray with her?'
'I pray for her.'
What does this moment tell the reader about Toti's character?
His stumbling words and blushing tells the reader he is nervous, however, his words clear in his intent, proving that he is self-assured, particularly regarding his spiritual counselling of Agnes.
"Illugastadir was different. I had no friends. I didn’t understand the landscape [...] there was no one and nothing else. There was nowhere else to go.”
What does this moment tell the reader about Agnes' feelings?
Agnes feels isolated and alone. Agnes realises that Natan has ostracised her from everyone else, ensuring he is all she has and he controls her.
''[Agnes] could have wept from the relief of light.”
What AF/SD's are used here (label two for full points) and what does it mean?
AF/SD: Imagery, hyperbole, narrative viewpoint, symbolism, irony
Meaning: Agnes has been imprisoned in darkness for so long that seeing the light symbolises a sense of freedom - even if she is travelling to her final place of residence.
Margret thinks Agnes "sounded like a child.”
What does this tell us about Margret's character?
Margret is a maternal figure who shows care and compassion towards others without consciously doing so. In this moment, she longs to take care of Agnes as these maternal instincts are kicking in.
“'Every night,' [Natan] hissed, 'I dream of death. I see it everywhere. I see blood, everywhere. [...] I dream that I’m in bed and I can see blood running down the walls. It drips on my head and the drops burn my skin.'”
What concepts are being explored here?
(Three for full points)
Dreams, superstition, fate, death, paranoia
Kent positions readers to view the sisters from Kornsa as a mirror of two other characters if their circumstances were different. Who are these characters?
Steina = Agnes
Lauga = Sigga
In the historical documents at the beginning of each chapter, all accounts that question Agnes' guilt in the murder or her villainised reputation are anonymous. Why? What does this tell us about the cultural assumptions of the time?
Kent positions readers to view this lack of freedom in speech as in order for someone to defend a villainised woman, they couldn't come forward publicly due to fear of their own reputation.
“No doves come from raven's eggs.”
What AF/SD is this and what is being said?
AF/SD: Metaphor, Symbolism
Agnes' parents are being critiqued here as it is implied that for Agnes to be innocent, her parents would need to raise her in this way. Therefore, her lineage is being partially blamed for her actions.
“Perhaps Rósa and I might have been friends... We both loved him, for one... Rósa’s poetry kindled the shavings of my soul, and lit me up from within. Natan never stopped loving her.”
What does this tell us about the role of women and their relationships in 1800's Iceland?
Women are pitted against each other, particularly when it comes to their relationships with men.
"The woman's body was a terrain of abuse. Even Margret, accustomed to wounds, [...] had been shocked."
What concept is being explored here? How is the reader positioned to view society in relation to this concept?
Society believes humanity is to be preserved unless they are deemed villains. Even Margret believes this is wrong.
After Natan and Petur are killed, Fridrik "got up, his breath shuddering, and pulled the knife out of Natan's belly. [...]
'That's my knife,' Fridrik said. He wiped it on his trousers and began to walk outside."
How has Kent position readers to view Fridrik in this moment?
Kent characterises Fridrik as greedy and selfish as despite the fact that he couldn't stomach murdering Natan mercifully, he refuses to leave any sort of property behind. This proves Fridrik's desperation for ownership.
"[Natan] was a sorcerer."
What does this tell the reader about the cultural assumptions of the time?
(Two cultural assumptions for full points)
Religion - Natan is referred to as the devil due to his name (AF/SD: charatonym) and his vast knowledge of healing despite his lack of faith.
Gender - Despite this villainisation, his intelligence is respected in town, juxtaposing the demonisation of Agnes' knowledge due to his gender (AF/SD: Irony).
“I am the dead fish drying in the cold air. I am the dead bird on the shore. I am dry, I am not certain I will bleed when they drag me out to meet the axe.”
This is Agnes' internal thoughts prior to her execution. What AF/SD's are used here and what does it show to the reader?
AF/SD's: Narrative viewpoint, metaphor, hyperbole, lexical choice
Meaning: This shows Agnes' gloom and deterioration of her mental state as she fears her impending death. The lack of sense in her metaphors shows that she is slowly losing her mind.
Who has the final word in the novel? What does this tell the reader?
Blondal. Shows the reader that his account of the events is the "final word", signifying his power.