On The Lake Literary Criticism

In this psychological literary criticism of On the Lake, by Olaf Olafsson, the characters Margret and Oskar will be analyzed. The main conflict is the determining of Oskar’s character; the question that keeps Margret unsettled until the climax of the short story.
Throughout the short story, Margret subtly questions her husband’s character. She often compares Oskar to her father. “She had mentioned it before, and Oskar hadn’t hidden his opinion that her father’s rules had no place in their home” (Olafsson 3). Margret desired a life much like her childhood with her Husband Oskar and only son Jonas.
“She had spent many hours by the lake as a child; her mother had stayed there with the children, and her father would come out as often as he could. She had hoped it would be the same for her and Oskar.” (2).
Oskar desired to be respected and admired by his wife; contrary his desires were unmet which led to his demise. Throughout narrative Oskar attempts to validate his character as a “man’s man”, good father and “man of the house”. Often time these attempts were done through a boastful attitude. “He also told them that he had built the cabin with his own hands, as well as installed the
Furthermore, Oskar’s son Jonas mirroring his mother began to chisel away at Oskar’s significance. Ultimately his inferiority complex led to the rising conflict when he tried to prove his masculinity by behaving recklessly to impress Jonas out on the lake. “He opened throttle as far as he could, then thrust the tiller hard right. The boat capsized” (Olafsson 2). The main conflict and definitive demise of Oskar’s character was realized by Margret as she witnessed Oskar let go of Jonas in tempts to save himself. “Oskar set off with Jonas, but being unable to hold onto him, he used the last of his strength to get to the rescuers himself” (Olafsson