"I was sent to a school because my father was already aware that his days were numbered, and he was anxious for me to acquire a good education and follow in his footsteps"
About this Quote
Mortality is doing the parenting here. Undset frames her education not as a coming-of-age privilege but as an emergency measure: a father, counting down his remaining time, tries to turn institutions into insurance. The sentence moves with the logic of a will being drafted. “Sent to a school” casts the child as cargo, not agent; the passive voice quietly signals how little choice is involved when adulthood arrives early through impending loss.
The phrase “days were numbered” is a familiar euphemism, but Undset uses its blandness to sharpen the dread. It suggests a household where fear can’t be spoken directly, so it’s processed through practical decisions. Education becomes a stand-in for presence: if he can’t be there, the curriculum will. That’s the subtext that makes the line sting - love translated into logistics.
“Acquire a good education” sounds aspirational, then “follow in his footsteps” narrows it into a program of continuity. The father isn’t simply hoping she thrives; he’s trying to reproduce a life path before the original disappears. There’s tenderness in that, and also pressure: the child’s future becomes a memorial project in advance. Undset, a novelist attuned to the ways family duty hardens into destiny, lets that double edge sit there without commentary.
In context, it reads like the seed of one of her recurring preoccupations: how personal freedom is negotiated under the weight of obligation, faith, and lineage. The father’s anxiety is legible, but so is the quiet cost - a life launched not by curiosity, but by fear of a looming absence.
The phrase “days were numbered” is a familiar euphemism, but Undset uses its blandness to sharpen the dread. It suggests a household where fear can’t be spoken directly, so it’s processed through practical decisions. Education becomes a stand-in for presence: if he can’t be there, the curriculum will. That’s the subtext that makes the line sting - love translated into logistics.
“Acquire a good education” sounds aspirational, then “follow in his footsteps” narrows it into a program of continuity. The father isn’t simply hoping she thrives; he’s trying to reproduce a life path before the original disappears. There’s tenderness in that, and also pressure: the child’s future becomes a memorial project in advance. Undset, a novelist attuned to the ways family duty hardens into destiny, lets that double edge sit there without commentary.
In context, it reads like the seed of one of her recurring preoccupations: how personal freedom is negotiated under the weight of obligation, faith, and lineage. The father’s anxiety is legible, but so is the quiet cost - a life launched not by curiosity, but by fear of a looming absence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
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