Per Hansa

Character Analysis

Ambitious Much?

The first thing you learn about Per Hansa is that the guy has a hunger that'll never be satisfied. All he can think about is land, land, land, and his entire sense of purpose in life comes from working on his farm and making sure his house and his possessions are better than his neighbors'. He doesn't just want to keep up with the Joneses; he wants to keep wayyy ahead of them.

From the moment we first meet Hansa, the narrator tells us how:

… he intended to take up land and build himself a home; he was going to do something remarkable out there, which should become known far and wide. (1.1.1.10)

Hansa could have easily stayed in Norway and lived a comfortable life. But that's not good enough for him. He needs to become the kind of man who goes down in history. And all he can think when he gazes over the American prairies is, "This kingdom is going to be mine !" (1.2.3.31) Whoa, dude. He's already thinking about the American west as his kingdom… making him (yup) its king.

Even though Per Hansa dreams a lot about building his kingdom, it's not like the guy is all show and no go. The truth is that he's the hardest worker on his entire settlement. O.E. Rölvaag makes this clear when he writes,

Per Hansa plowed and harrowed, delved and dug; he built away at the house, and he planted the potatoes; he had such a zest for everything and thought it all such fun that he could hardly bear to waste a moment in stupid sleep. (1.2.7.8)

Per Hansa is never happier than when he's at work and making his dreams a reality. There's just no quit in him. But with his great work ethic and ambition comes a whole lot of pride, and Hansa's competitiveness is bound to eventually alienate him from some of his closest neighbors.

Time for Reflection

Hansa might be indulgent with his pride from time to time, but the guy's not completely blind. He knows well enough that there are potential threats to his happiness, and he is extremely sharp-sighted when it comes to noticing anything out of the ordinary.

It takes him almost no time, for example, to realize that he has built part of his farm on an old Native American grave. As the narrator says,

Per Hansa began to step more cautiously; he sniffed the air like an animal; in a moment he stopped beside a small depression in the ground, and stood gazing at it intently for quite a while. (1.2.3.19)

Hansa doesn't realize what he's looking at right away, but the point is that his gut knows that there's something out-of-the-ordinary about this piece of ground. That being said, Hansa isn't about to pull up stakes and move somewhere else just because he found an old grave.

As the novel unfolds, Hansa eventually learns to be a little more conscious about his pride and how it's been affecting the people around him. He has a moment of real clarity when he sits down with the settlement's new minister and thinks carefully about his motives, saying,

The urge within me drove me on and on, and never would I stop; for I reasoned like this, that where I found happiness others must find it as well. (2.3.9.26)

In other words, Hansa reminds us that it's easy to assume that when we feel happy, so does everyone around us. But that's not always the case.

The Tragic Hero

After hearing about Per Hansa's pride for such a big portion of Giants in the Earth, we can probably assume that sooner or later, this dude is going to have a big fall. Yes, the guy has learned to be more considerate toward others and to think deeply about his ego, but like most tragic figures, he experiences this realization too late in the game.

Even after Hansa ventures into a blizzard to find help for his dying friend, Hans Olsa, he never stops thinking about taking more land and fulfilling his ambitions. We can tell this by the way "His eyes were set toward the west" (2.4.9.3) even at his moment of death.

Ironically, Hansa has died because he has tried to do something nice for his dying friend. But the unselfish action costs him his life, and in his final moment, Hansa seems to wish that he'd had more time to push farther west and settle more land.