Journal #2 - The Wild Duck

In The Wild Duck, Ibsen uses the motif of decay  to parallel the decaying of eyesight and of the relationships in the Ekdal family. Hedvig's eyesight is in the process of decaying, and as her vision gets worse, so does the situation in the her family. Hjalmar describes Hedvig as "the greatest joy of our lives, and also our deepest sorrow, [...] there's the gravest imminent danger of her losing her sight" (147). This serves as a parallel to the sorrow that Hjalmar feels when he discovers the truth about his family. He sees his comfortable life decaying around him and the truth coming out, and feels great despair that his life has been a lie.
The motif of disease manifests itself in Gregers. Relling describes Gregers as having an "acute case of moralistic fever" (178). This "disease" is one that stems off of the guilt Gregers feels for the ruining of the Ekdal family. He feels that to redeem himself, he must strive for truth, and once he sees the lies that surround Hjalmar, he makes it a goal to "free" Hjalmar. However, his "disease" is actually the very thing that pushes the Ekdal family further into ruin and decay.
The motif of illness becomes prevalent in the conflict between Rellings and Gregers. Rellings tells Gregers that "most of the world is sick" (202). He explains that life is a complication for people's health, and that the only remedy for this is their life-lie. This lie a single general lie that encompasses their life, making their life worth living. This lie is present in Hjalmar, who finds his importance by believing that he is an inventor, and also in Molvik, who justifies his bad demeanor by coming to the realization that he is "demonic". Ibsen also shows what happens to a person when they break through these lies. He shows that the person, when confronted with the truth, becomes embittered, as in the case of Hjalmar, or undergoes a quest for redemption, as in the case of Gregers.
Through these three motifs, Ibsen portrays truth as what it really is: a bitter fruit.