In the Distance

Now that Håkan has inflicted violence firsthand, Linus’s stories, “full of heroic deeds and displays of courage” (136), sadden him. He is convinced that he has sinned against the sanctity of life and that there can be no excuse for his actions. Alone and consumed by hollowness, he loses his sense of urgency and time. He doses himself with the sedative in his medical kit. The arrival of cold weather prompts him to secure supplies before the trail is deserted. When he approaches a caravan, a group of armed pioneers rides to meet him. One of them asks, “Are you the Hawk?” (140). Their knowledge of the killings fills him with shame, and he turns to leave. However, some of the pioneers consider him a hero and give him supplies as well as their thanks.

Håkan heads southeast to shun the trail and the cold. Alone in the wilderness, he experiences increasing paranoia. He vigilantly searches for traces of human activity, dreading the idea of encountering “men who would see him in his rotten, infected condition” (143). As winter sets in, his food supplies dwindle. Recalling how his father used to make glue, Håkan boils scraps of animals and spreads the paste on an oilcloth.