Dean Harstad Character Analysis

Dean Nils Harstad is the prime example of a character who takes harmful shortcuts as his interactions with Marly were pre-planned to have a specific outcome, one completely unrelated to the love he claimed to have for her. Dean Harstad’s true passion in life was to spread Christianity after the, “fall of Godless Communism in Europe” and Marly was simply a means to an end (Smiley 214). Dean Harstad’s belief that the spread of Christianity was God’s mission for him suggests one of two options; Dean Harstad experienced a religious awakening the likes of which have not been seen since St. Paul or, the more likely of the two, Harstad is simply using religion as a shield to achieve his goals by any means necessary without having to explain himself.

Harstad sees Marly not as the love of his life or as an independent being, but as simply a breeder a, “Christian woman, a woman with all the womanly virtues of kindness, care, selflessness, Christian love, trust, faith, modesty” with the ability to birth him six children (Smiley 213). However, as with most attempts to cut corners on a long process, there are inevitably complications, more specifically, when Marly directly opposes Harstad’s calls to action, leaves him, and heads towards San Francisco. When this occurs, the dean has no contingency plans to achieve his goal, proving that by attempting to take a shortcut, it is possible to remove all possibility of successfully completing a goal.