The Wild Duck, Journal Three

"Can't you see how I'm working! I'm working for all I'm worth!" (158)
I found this quote to be interesting because Hjalmer never actually works. Every time he sits down to work, he immediately gets up to do something else, yet Hjalmer is under the perception that he does work. He believes that he is a hard-worker and is the main provider in the house, when in reality, Gina and Hedvig do all the work. It seems as if Gina and Hedvig have created a facade for Hjalmer though. They praise him so much that it would only be natural for Hjalmer to believe that he is a hard-worker. With this facade, it seems as if Gina is trying to hide Hjalmer from himself.

"Even time doesn't exist in there--with the wild duck" (162). 
This quote caught my attention because I found it interesting how Hjalmer speaks about the wild duck in an envious way, yet he is the wild duck. He perceives the wild duck as being completely innocent; unaware of time and what is occurring around him. In a sense, Hjalmer is the same way. Hjalmer is unaware of his surroundings and what is happening. He thinks he knows, but in reality, everything he knows is most likely a lie.

"No. Even the chickens have all the others that they were baby chicks with, but she's so completely apart from any of her own. So you see, everything is so really mysterious about the wild duck. There's no one who knows her, and no one who knows where she's come from, either" (164).
In this quote, the audience can perceive Gina as the wild duck. Hedvig talks about the wild duck being "mysterious" and no one knowing who the wild duck is except for the wild duck itself. This also pertains to Gina. No one knows the truth about happened between Gina and Werle except for Gina. Werle may not even know if he is father of Hedvig, but Gina does, so this proves Gina is the only person who knows the truth. It is interesting to see how Ibsen relates the wild duck to several difference characters in the play.

"Not quite that. I wouldn't say you're wounded; but you're wandering in a poisonous swamp, Hjalmer. You've got an insidious disease in your system, and so you've gone to the bottom to die in the dark" (170)
This quote, said by Gregers, is significant because it relates Hjalmer to the wild duck and Gregers talks about Hjalmer being diseased. Gregers said this after Hjalmer admitted to attempting suicide. I found this interesting because in a sense, Hjalmer is mentally diseased. Hjalmer is not wounded yet because he hasn't killed himself, but he is "wandering in poisonous swamp" meaning Hjalmer is lost in a house, or family, filled with disease and lies.

"It'll never be sound. Your conscience has been sickly from childhood. It's an inheritance from your mother, Gregers--the only inheritance she left you" (176)
In this scene, Werle is speaking to Gregers about Gregers' motives for telling Hjalmer the truth. I found this interesting because one again, the motif of disease is being used. Ibsen creates every character as having either mental or physical disabilities. In this scene in particular, we get an insight into Gregers. I am beginning to question if Gregers is really telling the truth to help Hjalmer or if he's doing it just to clear his own conscience. Gregers is potentially going to ruin Hjalmer's life, so is he doing it out of selfishness? Up until this point, it had seemed like Gregers was the only character in the play who was not plagued by illness, but Ibsen has just destroyed this perception.