Character Analysis
O.E. Rölvaag doesn't spend a whole lot of time developing the Solum Boys as characters. They're more like a couple of useful henchmen who can fill in whenever the Norwegian settlement (or the book's plot) needs someone to do something.
That said, we do get a few clues as to how the boys are different. Henry, for example, is a practical young man whose judgment turns out to be useful in tough situations. When the Norwegians have a land dispute with the Irish, we learn that:
The Solum boys took a sensible view of the whole matter; to Henry it seemed just an amusing interruption to their loneliness; the idea of chasing people away from a place that was nearly destitute of human beings already, seemed comical. (1.4.8.6)
Even though he's young, Henry has a healthy sense of perspective on life that his older friends sometimes lack.
The other of the two Solum boys is Sam, who always seems a bit more stunned and wide-eyed than his brother. When he is asked to become a teacher to the children of the settlement, Sam hardly knows what to do:
And there stood Sam, looking blankly at the children, whose eyes were fixed on him with an equally blank stare. He couldn't bear to be the object of their ridicule; there was no one else in the room; no other idea came to his rescue; and so he began to sing. (2.1.3.13)
Luckily for the schoolchildren (and Sam's dignity!) it turns out that Sam has a beautiful voice. The book definitely positions him as the more shy and sensitive of the two Solum brothers.