Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/619

 The Family in Bjtfrnson's Tales 615 ethical principles mechanically and without an understanding of the child's nature. In spite of the father's scientific theories his severity results only in inspiring his children with a morbid and unhappy fear of him. He threatens them with corporal punishment for an offense which was necessarily a result of ignorance. Knowing full well what their father's threat means, the children run away from home and are lost in a snow storm which overtakes them. The children are happily found again unharmed, but the mother dies of a broken heart and the father's happiness is forever destroyed. Whatever mistakes the mother may have made regarding the education of her children, she understood at least that undue severity was a fatal course to pursue. That she did not, how- ever, consider her husband personally to blame for his undue severity towards the children is evident from her statement: "O, he is just like most men in this regard, they amuse them- selves with the children at times, and at times strike them too, when anything happens to displease them." Bj^rnson's social propaganda is here clearly in evidence; this tragedy was due primarily not to the individual character of the father but to the inherited traditions as to the father's ownership of the children and his consequent lack of intelligent attitude towards the child's moral perception and sensitive temperament. So too in Synntfve Solbakken, on account of the father's severity and application of physical force, the relations between Torbj^rn and his father are severely strained. Torbjo'rn's nature, however, is far different from that of Trond or of the children in Sttfv. Torbj^rn represents the rugged, self-reliant peasant lad, whose will is bound to clash with his father's. His father's methods are, to be sure, unduly severe and even brutal, but this physical brutality was characteristic of the Norwegian peasant, and, furthermore, not at all alien to Torbj^rn's own nature (cf. e.g. his unpardonable brutality towards his faithful horse). In order to tame his son's refrac- tory spirit the father naturally employs the traditional method of enforcing authority. But this traditional ideal Bjo'rnson seeks to bring into direct conflict with the spirit of enlighten- ment and with the Christian ideals of a new social era. This spirit is shared by Torbjo'm's mother who clearly understands