How does Hannah Kent make the landscape and weather an integral part of the novel?

Amidst the journey of the last woman executed in Iceland is the ‘nature [that] is watchful of all of us.’ Kent parallels the protagonist Agnes’ story alongside the force of the harsh Icelandic climate and country that ‘is as awake as you and I’ and often determines key events in the novel. The ominous foreshadowing of death represented in elements of the landscape highlights how the country is an essential aspect of the novel, often adding to the dramatic effect. Agnes’ road to spiritual redemption, both religion based and personal, is greatly influenced by the natural occurrences of the country. Ultimately, the harsh Icelandic conditions impact the lives of many characters, regularly wielding its power that can determine their paths. Despite Kent’s fundamental notion of the force of the nature, it is also the individuals of higher status that have the ability to control and enforce their will on others.

Kent highlights the integral nature of the landscape by using motifs to foreshadow impending events. With Agnes’ forthcoming ‘execution,’ death is regularly referred to in the novel often by the ‘ravens in the sky.’ As she arrives at Korsna, where Agnes awaits her death, she hears ‘the caw of ravens’ and as demonstrated by Kent’s simile, are ‘dark shapes like omens.’ Thus this may imply that the ‘omen’ cements the notion from the exposition that Agnes’ fate has been determined. Kent renders the final moments of the novel as a conclusion of Agnes’ life, as again, ‘there are ravens in the sky.’ The ravens become a fundamental motif of the novel, as each time they appear the audience is reminded of Agnes’ imminent death, hence, additionally heighten the dramatic effect of the novel. The harsh conditions of Iceland demonstrated by the incessant ‘wind’ foreshadow Magaret’s ill health.