Foil

Character Role Analysis

Beret/Per Hansa

Beret might seem like a downer at times, but the truth is that she can see her husband's flaws better than anyone else in this book. Beret predicts early in the book that the Dakota Territory is going to give Per Hansa total power to pursue his worldly ambitions. She also predicts that there will be so much work to do that he'll stop giving time to anything else in his life, including his family. And Beret is dead right on both counts.

Per Hansa is also able to thrive in the Dakota Territory because of his ambition, while Beret's need for distraction and human company leaves her feeling so lonely and bored that she has a mental breakdown.