# Hedvig — Downstream character guide

> Hedvig in Downstream by Sigfrid Siwertz.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Sister Hedvig, The Angel of Death Hedvig, Hedvig Hill

**First appearance:** 0000-part-i-i-the-cry

## Snapshot

A Red Cross nurse whose childhood terror of the Bogey Man hardened into a God of punishment, Hedvig moves through the novel as its Angel of Death.

## Who they are

Raised on old Kristin's threats about the sugar box and the Bogey Man, Hedvig grew up fearing a God who punishes incendiaries and watches brownies, and she never escaped those first impressions. Now a trained nurse, she speaks of a patient's death as a thing to be waited out before she can take the next case, and her voice carries an unnaturally tense anguish even when she knows her lesson. She is the book's most disturbing figure precisely because her dread is sincere: she runs toward dying people the way the frightened haunt cemeteries.

## Relationships

### [Jacob Levy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/jacob_levy)

_romantic_

Hedvig and Jacob Levy have a romantic connection, marked by significant emotional or dramatic exchanges.

### [Laura](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/laura)

_friendship_

Hedvig and Laura are close friends or confidantes, sharing emotional support and secrets.

### [Jacob Levy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/jacob_levy)

_romantic_

Hedvig and Jacob Levy have a romantic connection, marked by significant emotional or dramatic exchanges.

### [Laura](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/laura)

_friendship_

Hedvig and Laura are close friends or confidantes, sharing emotional support and secrets.

### [Laura](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/laura)

_friendship_

Hedvig and Laura are close friends or confidantes, sharing emotional support and secrets.

### [Jacob Levy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/jacob_levy)

_romantic_

Hedvig and Jacob Levy have a romantic connection, marked by significant emotional or dramatic exchanges.

## In the story

### [I: The Cry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-i-the-cry)

Hedvig, with dark hungry eyes, steals sugar and listens to Kristin; she is locked with Peter and shares his terror.

### [II: The Robber’s Stronghold](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-ii-the-robber-s-stronghold)

Lies in the pram as the 'dead' mother, later betrays Herman to Kristin to protect Peter.

### [Peter the Watchdog](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-iv-peter-the-watchdog)

Does her duty at dinner, eating her soup.

### [V: Fear](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-v-fear)

The focal character, consumed by fear and a forbidden fascination with Brundin, struggles through her confirmation day.

### [VII: Brundin's Downfall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-vii-brundin-s-downfall)

Hedvig is mentioned in relation to her God, which shares a common origin with Peter's God, both shaped by old Kristin's servants' God and the terrors of helplessness.

### [IX: Peter the Boss](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-ix-peter-the-boss)

Hedvig is frightened by Peter's warnings and redoubles her efforts to care for their father, though she does so with a gloomy, obstinate determination. She is described as a 'ghost from the time of his great fear' and is religious.

### [X: Laura's Marriage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-x-laura-s-marriage)

Wears a dark severe frock at the wedding, spreads a chill around her.

### [XI: The Spanish Saint](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-i-xi-the-spanish-saint)

Now Sister Hedvig, a nurse with religious gloom, she is repulsed by Percy's art and worldly atmosphere but agrees to a platonic marriage as a sacrifice and escape.

### [III: The Angel of Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-ii-iii-the-angel-of-death)

Hedvig struggles with her role as a nurse and wife, using Percy's illness to maintain emotional distance while secretly enjoying his longing. She later experiences a resurgence of passion in Spain but becomes consumed by jealousy and anxiety over Percy's art obsession.

### [VII: Shadow Play](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-ii-vii-shadow-play)

Hedvig is torn between her attraction to Levy's financial world and her fear of being exploited. She paces restlessly, telephones Levy repeatedly, and ultimately flees to Percy's grave for solace.

### [IX: Peter's Tombstone](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/chapters/part-ii-ix-peter-s-tombstone)

Hedvig is fetched to visit Peter, dressed in moth-eaten clothes, and mutters reproachfully about Peter's past woman.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters/hedvig
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/downstream_se/characters