Identity and Naming Theme Analysis

While it is primarily focused on the potential for goodness within people and the interactions between them, “The Rattrap” also concerns itself with issues of identity, especially the construction of identity through actions and choices, and the role that names can play in this process. Ultimately, the story suggests that identity is a fluid thing, and people can change or be changed to inhabit different identities based on their choices and the actions of others.

The story itself is told in a somewhat fairy-tale style, without a specific setting or even specific names for most of the characters. Even the protagonist is only referred to as “the rattrap peddler,” “the stranger,” or “the tramp.” Other principle characters are called “the old man” (also referred to as “the crofter”) and “the ironmaster.” This makes these characters seem almost like archetypes rather than specific people, and contributes to the story’s feeling of being a folk tale or myth. The only named characters (other than a brief mention of the master smith at Ramsjö Ironworks) are Edla Willmansson, who is the ironmaster’s daughter, and Captain von Stahle, who never actually appears in the story but is the man the ironmaster mistakes the peddler for, as an old army comrade of his.

It’s notable that Edla and von Stahle are the only two named characters. Edla is something of a hero in “The Rattrap,” if not the protagonist, for she shows the greatest compassion and understanding and helps reveal the core of goodness within the previously cynical, bitter peddler. She takes many specific positive actions in the story, such as persuading the peddler to come to the manor house, declaring her desire to provide him with a safe place to stay, and gifting the peddler with a suit and the offer of returning for Christmas Eve the next year. Actions and decisions like this give her a sense of identity within the story, one reflected by the fact that she is also given a name.

This idea then shows the importance of the peddler’s final letter, which he signs as “Captain von Stahle.” He is not really von Stahle, of course, but it’s suggested that in being transformed by Edla’s kindness and taking his own positive actions of returning the stolen money and leaving a rattrap as a Christmas present, the peddler has taken on a new identity and been given a name to go with it. He has been treated like a “real captain” and so wants to act like a captain in turn, even symbolically using the title and name he previously lied about. This doesn’t mean that he now is (or wants to be) an upper-class leader in the army, but rather someone others might treat with dignity and kindness, and who can treat others with dignity and kindness in turn.

The story thus suggests that identity is not necessarily fixed, and one’s situation and choices contribute to the identity a person inhabits at any given time. This then becomes part of Lagerlöf’s positive message in “The Rattrap”—that people can change, and that means they can change for the better.