IB Junior English Journal Response 22

-Examine how characters perceive themselves or others.

-Who has false conceptions of him/herself?

-Who has misconceptions of others?

-Who recognizes the facades created by other characters? 

-Does the character embrace the facade, ignore it, or confront it?

You may choose to discuss any character(s) that interest in you Act 2.

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The Wild Duck by Ibsen - Journal # 2

In Act Two of The Wild Duck, Ibsen creates characters whose perceptions of themselves are not really accurate.  One example of this would be Gina.

Gina:

Gina perceives herself as a person with a few simple morals that she stands by.  Gina thinks of herself as a person who is thoughtful of other people.  She believes that she wants others to feel welcome and not rejected.  This is shown when Gina advises Gregers to think before staying at her place saying, “But remember those two who live right below…well, I think you ought to sleep on it first, anyway.” (154).  Gina believes that she is being helpful because she is trying to prevent Gregers from getting into a conflict with one of the neighbors.  

Gina falsely perceives herself as more understanding than other characters.  For instance, when Hedvig wants to “read a little longer”, Gina replies “No, no - you must set the book down.  Your father doesn’t like it; he never reads in the evening” (117).  Gina is hindering her daughter's desire to do something that she enjoys.  Her perception of herself, as being considerate, does not match her actions.  Typical parents would usually allow at least a few minutes more for their child to read.

Gina misconceives some of the statements made by other characters.  For example, when Gregers wants his personality to be associated with a dog, Gina responds by saying, “Wasn’t that a queer business, his wanting to be a dog...what else could he mean?” (155).  This shows that she does not know the meaning behind what Gregers was saying.  She takes things literally when Gregers mentions that he wanted to be a “clever dog”.  Because she misinterpreted what Gregers says, she thinks of him as “queer”. 

There are some characters who recognize façades created by other characters like Gregers.  This brings us to talk about Gregers.

Gregers:

Gregers sees Ekdal’s façade of happiness in life.  He states this saying, “Without a doubt, you could get some copying to do up there; and here you have nothing in the world to stir your blood and make you happy.” (150). Edkal is an outdoorsman and lives in the city.  Gregers thinks that in order for Edkal to truly regain his happiness in life, he must go back to work at Hoidal.  Edkal, on the other hand, seems to be happy even without a job.  He sustains this façade of happiness by occasionally going out to hunt.  Edkal defends his façade when he replies, “I have nothing, nothing at all-!” (150).  Edkal starts to defend his façade by exaggerating the word “nothing”.  He later goes on talking about his experiences relating to hunting. Gregers reluctantly embraces this façade saying, "of course you have Hjalmar" (150). Gregers acknowledges that Hjalmar is the source of his happiness, but Hjalmar has his own life to live.  Gregers thinks that Ekdal has the opportunity to be “free and wild” and to be an independent person.