The wild duck Journal 5

I think The Wild Duck could be seen as a tragedy because at the end of the play Gina and Hjalamr come back together to carry Hedvig's body to her room. Instead of things continuing to worse for the characters in the book things are starting to get resolved which helps the reader leave the book feeling less sad which is a slight act of catharsis in the authors part. On the other hand I do believe that the play is not a tragedy because to me it seems like more of just random events that are sad and just keep getting worse like at the end of the book some things get resolved but overall not everything is completely resolved so it cannot be seen as a tragedy. The end of the book is far too sad to be a complete catharsis and does not leave the reader feeling better or feeling that they can go on being happier, I actually think that it is intended to make point to the sadness that continues from the death of Hedvig that will continue in Hjalmars grief for his daughter and this is made clear through Relling and Greggers conversation when Relling says "the child torn too soon from her father's heart"(216).  The thought on this subject makes clear that all things are not resolved and that in total the end of the story is far too sad to be a tragedy and has no point of catharsis.

The wild duck journal 4

The character that was most at fault for the events to come was Greggers. This is the case because he was the one who gave Hedvig the idea to sacrifice what meant most to her in her life to prove to Hjalmar that she loved him still. Instead of Hedvig sacrificing the wild duck as an offering for her father she chooses herself over the duck which in the end causes her death. Another character at fault would be Hjalmar himself, if it was not for the way he was acting toward Hedvig nothing would have happened. Hjalmar constantly kept telling Hedvig that he wanted her to leave and that he did not even want to see her because it was too painful for him so he made Gina make her leave every time she appeared. These actions lead to Hedvig wanting her father to love her again and make him want to come back even more, she did not like how he was acting so she started with ideas on how to get him to come back, which led to the idea of a sacrifice. Also, Mrs. Sorby who dropped off the letter was a big part to blame for what happened because if it were not for her Hjalmar would not have even known in the first place and the old illusion that was going on in the family would have continued. If there was any character without blame it would be Hedvig herself because she was innocent to the entire subject and had no clue what would happen or what was going on. Hedvig was utterly oblivious to all situations involving Gina and Werle's involvement and that she was a possible result of it. Another character that did not have much to do with anything was Relling on the side he was merely just a person to give a room for Hjalmar to stay in, no real involvement with what was going on. The character who should be at blame is Greggers for giving the idea of sacrifice and using the gun to take away what was most important to Hedvig. In a way Hjalmar takes responsibility for the death of Hedvig through making it clear that he drove her off through "And I drove her from me like an animal!"(215). This announcement made clear that Hjalmar realizes that if he had not acted in the way he did then Hedvig would not be dead.

The Wild Duck Journal 3

""(After a pause) we have nothing to do with old Mr. Werle" I think this passage is significant because in a hidden way it shows Gina's thoughts towards Werle being revealed. This happens before she admits that she had had an affair with Mr. Werle and was covering it up by marrying Hjalmar. There is a bit of irony because Hedvig and Gina really do have a lot to do with Mr. Werle, Gina had an affair with Werle and as a result came Hedvig. Without even knowing it Hedvig was also involved with Mr. Werle and did not even know that her real father was Mr. Werle.
"Hereditary?"(147), this is important because illness comes up a lot in the play. Hjalmar and Hedvig both have seeing problems. This is interesting because how could a man with bad eye sight have a good photography business is he cannot see? Another interesting thought is that Hedvig also not being able to see as well, this directly describes her situation with her real father. She cannot clearly see that Werle is her real father because there is an illusion created to make it so that she will not find this out.
Another thing that ties to this idea of Gina having an affair with Werle is "Hedvig is almost fourteen exactly; her birthday's the day after tomorrow [...] Gina. We've been married now for- yes, near fifteen years [...] (looking at him becoming wary). Yes, no doubt about it" (148). I think this passage is interesting and significant because of how Gina acts after talking about how old Hedvig is. Hedvig being 14 years and Gina marrying 15 years ago is a close time. The affair must have happened during the time she was married to Hjalmar. "(Looking at him becoming wary) is the most interesting part because why would she be becoming wary if she is talking about a happy occasion like her daughter’s birthday? Could she be paranoid about something?
"If i'd learned how to make baskets, I could have made the new basket for the wild duck"(163). I think this passage is interesting and significant because it is a moment when the duck is spoken of in the play, which leads on to more about the duck later on in the play.I also find it interesting because the duck is there due to hunting, and beforehand the characters were talking about hunting and hunting grounds.
"That's that. Now at last I can work in peace for a while"(159). This passage is interesting and significant because it talks about Hjalmar and his photography business. It is significant because even though his job is being a photographer he does not seem to get very much work done in the play. He always seems to be off somewhere else of attempting to work on it but not actually getting anything done.
"Sure, there's Mr. Molvik, but he isn't always exactly, really-well-[...] He gets drunk, eh?[...]That's for sure"(162). This is significant because it is talking about one of the characters in the book who is supposed to be a good person because of his job. I find it interesting that a man with an important job that is supposed to help people would often be drunk; it is a bad thing to find people who are helping others who cannot get off of their own problems.
"Yes, some day you and Grandfather'll have an accident with that there gun"(166). This passage is interesting and significant because Gina and Hjalmar are talking about the only gun that is located in the house. Another significant thing about the gun could be its use further in the book. Could the gun be used in a death attempt of one of the characters, or used to really harm one of the characters?
"All of a sudden he's possessed by an impulse; and then I have to take him on a bat. You see, Mr. Molvik is demonic"(171). This passage is significant because it talks about the priest Molvik being demonic. Normally a priest is seen as a holly man who helps others and does good holly things. A priest is normally not associated as being demonic in anyway.

The Wild Duck journal 2

Hjalmar is one of the characters that had a miss perception of him. Hjalmar's perception of himself was warped into thinking of himself as better or worse then he actually was. Hjalmar comes to think that instead of being fat he is a man because of it. When he talks to Greggers about himself being "stout", as said by Greggers, he comes up with a different meaning from this, he thinks that "stout" could be used for being more of a man. Because he is larger in size, this means that he is more of a man. He also comes to believe that even though on the outside he may be large the inside is better. Through"but the inner man! Believe me, he has a different look"(122) the author shows how Hjalmar talking about how he thinks of himself on the inside as being a better man. That even though his appearance may be off, his inner appearance is by far better than what the other characters, like Greggers, can see. A character who creates a perception for another character is Hedvig. She creates the perception that her father is an amazing photographer and editor instead of seeing what he really is. By doing this Hedvig is setting up a false self perception of her father himself, he lives with thinking that he is an amazing photographer even though he hardly does any work at all. The characters say he is a great photographer and want to help him with his work, he keeps saying he has to work but what happens is that he goes and attempts to work on things but it never gets done.