"Pelle Erobreren 4: Gryet" by Martin Andersen Nexø is a novel written in the early 20th century. The book follows the working-class agitator Pelle as he leaves prison and tries to reclaim a place in Copenhagen’s labor movement while rebuilding his broken family life. Set in a vividly drawn urban Denmark, it blends social struggle with intimate questions of guilt, love, and renewal. Readers can expect a sober, human portrait of a
man caught between public cause and private duty. The opening of the story sets a stark contrast between a forbidding prison and the bright spring fields, then follows Pelle’s first steps into freedom. He encounters the embittered Ferdinand, refuses to be drawn back into crime after a scuffle, and walks toward the city reflecting on the hard lessons of solitude—his guilt toward Ellen and the children, the shock of learning about a new child, and a determined hope to begin again. Reaching Nørrebro on election day, he cannot find his family at the old address, briefly and painfully recognizes his son, is ignored or misremembered at a tavern, and rescues the drunken Glade Jakob, whose fate exposes how easily the fallen are cast aside. At a workers’ rally he is recognized and pushed to speak; his quiet, inward speech disappoints the crowd but earns him one supporter who gives Ellen’s new address, and the section closes with him resolved to visit her as the city stirs to morning work. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Jens Sadowski and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net. This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive.
