The Rattrap (Selma Lagerlof)

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The central metaphor is the idea that the whole world is a big rattrap. Tempting things like shelter, food, money, and comfort are compared to bait that catches people when they give in to greed or we…

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He feels that life offers tempting baits such as riches and comfort, only to trap people in trouble. This view comes from his own bitter experience of poverty, struggle, and repeated disappointment.

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The peddler is an unnamed vagabond who sells wire rattraps made by himself. He survives by begging and petty thievery, and his life is marked by poverty and loneliness.

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He makes wire rattraps as a trade, but he is also trapped by poverty, hunger, and fear. Later, the story shows that he can even trap himself by giving in to temptation.

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The crofter treats the peddler kindly. He offers porridge, tobacco, and cards, and talks to him warmly because he is lonely and lives without wife or child.

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He wants to prove that his cow gives him enough money to live on. He is proud of the thirty kronor he received from the creamery for the cow's milk.

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Half an hour later, he returns, smashes a window pane, takes the pouch with thirty kronor, and carefully puts the pouch back before leaving.

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He is tempted by easy gain and sees a chance to get money quickly. His poverty and weak character make him give in to the bait he had been thinking about in his rattrap idea.