The narrator The market square and Our Saviour's church
Part I · 6% through the novel
When I reached the market-place I went to the fountain and drank a little. I looked up; the dial marked ten on Our Saviour's tower.
The starving narrator crosses the market square where the country women sell their sausage and vegetables, and checks the hour on the cathedral clock. Vor Frelsers kirke and the market at its foot are the fixed centre he circles all day, too proud to beg and too weak to work.
explicit Our Saviour's church is Vor Frelsers kirke, today Oslo Cathedral, which still stands over the old market square (Stortorvet). The pin marks the cathedral; the clock in its tower is the one the narrator reads.
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The narrator Carl Johann Street (Karl Johans gate)
Part I · 11% through the novel
The whole town began to get on its legs as it approached the fashionable hour for promenading. Bowing and laughing folk walked up and down Carl Johann Street.
At noon the fashionable crowd fills Karl Johans gate, the city's main street, and the narrator slips past the well-dressed acquaintances he cannot let see how far he has fallen. The promenade of the healthy and fed is the stage he is being quietly written off from.
explicit Carl Johann Street is Karl Johans gate, Kristiania's grand promenade. The pin sits on its upper stretch by the old University, at the corner of University Street (Universitetsgata) where the narrator watches the acquaintances he dodges.
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The narrator Akershus fortress by the sea
Part I · 23% through the novel
I pass by Ingebret's and the theatre, turn round by the box-office, and go towards the sea, near the fortress. I find a seat once more, and begin to consider afresh.
Turned out of his lodging and with nowhere to sleep, the narrator drifts down to the fjord under the walls of Akershus and sits trying to think of a hole to hide in for the night. The old fortress by the water is where his homelessness first becomes literal.
explicit The fortress on the fjord is Akershus, the medieval castle and citadel above Oslo's harbour. The pin marks it; the narrator comes down to the water beside it looking for somewhere to sleep.
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