Pan (novel)
Encyclopedia
Pan is a 1894
1894 in literature
The year 1894 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Robert Frost sells his first poem, "My Butterfly", to The New York Independent for fifteen dollars.*Hermann Hesse begins his apprenticeship at a factory in Calw....

 novel by the Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 author Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun
Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....

. Written while he lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and in Kristiansand
Kristiansand
-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, Hamsun was directly influenced by the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....

. It remains one of his most famous works today.

The novel has been adapted into films four times; in 1922, 1937, 1960, and 1995
Pan (1995 film)
Pan is a 1995 Danish/Norwegian/German film directed by Henning Carlsen, based on Knut Hamsun's 1894 novel of the same name. It is the fourth and most recent film adaptation of the novel—the novel was previously adapted into motion pictures in 1922, 1937, and 1960.-Cast:*Sofie Gråbøl as Edvarda...

.

Plot summary

The novel begins with Lieutenant Thomas Glahn, a hunter and ex-military man, who lives alone in a hut in the forest with his faithful dog Aesop
Aesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...

. Upon meeting Edvarda, the merchant's daughter, he quickly falls in love, but she proves fickle, having affairs with multiple young men in the nearby town. Overwhelmed by rejection, Glahn behaves childishly toward Edvarda and humiliates her friend, the Doctor, whose affection for her has created a love triangle. At the end of the novel, Glahn visits Edvarda for the last time in his fine military uniform; she thus asks for Aesop as something to remember Glahn by. Instead of graciously allowing her to have the dog, he is afraid she will abuse him. Glahn instead shoots Aesop
Aesop
Aesop was a Greek writer credited with a number of popular fables. Older spellings of his name have included Esop and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a...

, sending Edvarda the corpse before he sails off for duty.

Symbolism

The changing seasons are reflected in the plot: Edvarda and Glahn fall in love in spring; make love in the summer; and end their relationship autumn.

The contradicting symbols of culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

 and nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...

are important in the novel: Glahn belongs to nature, while Edvarda belongs to culture.

Much of what happens between Glahn and Edvarda is foreshadowed by dreams of two lovers experienced by Glahn and the conversations the lovers have.

Epilogue

The Epilogue: Glahn's Death is a number of stories told about Glahn ending with his "accidental" shooting and death. However, this is highly contradictory the most of novel of Pan was written in first person from the perspective a Glahn, and it can be theorized that he wrote this as well. It is said [by whom?] that he faked his own death, simply for the purposes of the novel. Another possible reason for the "death" is that Glahn was ultimately getting back at Edvarda for their failed attempts at love.

External links

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