Violence Begets Violence

Many of the violent characters in this story are created by their experiences of being abused by others. Two examples of this are Grímur and Tómas. Both of these characters were abused as children, and subsequently grow up to become abusive towards their own wives and children. The childhood abuse influences these characters' thoughts and behaviors and helps to form them into the abusive figures that they became.

Grímur was neglected and abused as a child. The feeling of anger and the need to never be that weak and powerless again leads him to do whatever he needs to feel like he is in control of his life. Unfortunately, Grímur’s life is far from perfect, which makes him even more violent. His dreams of being a fisherman fall through when he finds out he is afraid of the water...