Downstream · Theme
Death and Mortality
How Downstream develops Death and Mortality.
The characters' attitudes toward death—from Stellan's gambler's courage to Hedvig's fear of heredity and Laura's protective fat—reveal their core values and the superficiality of their lives, as death looms as an ever-present reality.
Where it surfaces
- I: The Cry
The mother's death and the newborn's death are central events, and Kristin's stories about Old Hök's death and the ghostly atmosphere reinforce the theme.
- IX: Peter the Boss
Oskar Selamb's decline and the death of old Hermansson loom over the chapter. Peter's anxiety about his father's death and the flowers that 'smelt of a funeral' highlight the theme of mortality.
- XI: The Spanish Saint
Percy's convalescence and near-death experience, Hedvig's attraction to sickbeds and deathbeds, and the shadow of death pervade the chapter.
- III: The Angel of Death
The chapter is saturated with death imagery: the bottle with a death's head, the 'Angel of Death' title, Percy's declining health, and Hedvig's preemptive widowhood.
- IV: The Cold Moment
Stellan's 'cold moment' of existential fear and the visit to the crypt with Count Lähnfeldt highlight themes of mortality and the fear of death.
- VI: The Great Dinner
Stellan's thoughts of a toast to the dead, the ghostly atmosphere of the dinner, and the typhus outbreak underscore the presence of death.
- VII: Shadow Play
Hedvig repeatedly retreats to the cemetery and Percy's grave, using death and memory as a refuge from the pressures of life and finance. The chapter opens with her deathly pale complexion and ends with her sitting motionless by the tomb.
- VIII: Tord Sails Out to Sea
The death of the old gardener, Tord's suicidal despair, and the pervasive sense of decay and loneliness.
- IX: Peter's Tombstone
Peter's death and the subsequent legal 'tombstone' highlight the legacy of a life lived for power, with the masses admiring his cunning even in death.