How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"It's curious, too; on the outside Emil is just like an American boy—he graduated from the State University in June, you know—but underneath he is more Swedish than any of us. Sometimes he is so like father that he frightens me; he is so violent in his feelings like that." (2.4.6)
On some level, Emil's conflicts are apparent to Alexandra, even through the façade of naïve youthfulness. Emil seems to be truly part of the New World, "just like an American boy," yet he has a lot from the Old World as well—his father's violent feelings.
Quote #5
"And now the old story has begun to write itself over there," said Carl softly. "Isn't it queer: there are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years." (2.4.13)
Carl sees the younger generation as destined to live out the same dramas as their ancestors. He thinks young people are trapped by their "fierce" impulses, thinking that they're free. Well, does the novel suggest he's right?
Quote #6
"She has it hard enough, anyway. She's too young and pretty for this sort of life. We're all ever so much older and slower. But she's the kind that won't be downed easily. She'll work all day and go to a Bohemian wedding and dance all night, and drive the hay wagon for a cross man next morning. I could stay by a job, but I never had the go in me that she has, when I was going my best." (2.4.18)
Marie is pretty much the essence of youth, at least from Alexandra's perspective. Maybe that's why she's also Alexandra's foil—while Marie never grows up, Alexandra never really had a childhood.