How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Their cabin. Their entire world, a single room, twenty-four feet by twelve, plus the four feet square of the entrance hall, where the boots and coats waited until it was time for them to work again, and the larder room, which was behind the other inner door in the hall. The larder room, which as well as holding all their food, candles, soap, tools, and spare cloth, was at night home to Sig. (2.8)
It's not much, but it's home. We'd like to point out just how important the cabin ends up being in the novel—after all, it's Einar's proof that he's not rich, because all he has is a small cabin that belongs to his boss. It seems like Einar purposely lives frugally so no one suspects his theft.
Quote #2
A greed brought them, and now it seemed as if that greed would kill them. Ice-bitten and hunger-eyed, Einar Andersson stood on the beach, very near the creek that had started the whole damn thing, and wept. It had been his greed, his weakness, and it was his guilt that he fought to ignore now. (5.1)
Everyone wanted to strike it rich during the gold rush, but when it comes down to it, that desire was rooted in greed. Einar feels badly that he's put his family in this position, but this doesn't stop him from still being greedy enough to steal gold.
Quote #3
Just enough to keep that stupid dream of easy money alive, the dream of fantastic wealth, of ease and luxury and fine things for the rest of his days, but in reality not enough to live on for even a week. (8.3)
It seems like Einar and his boss have got it all figured out, yet if there's no hope for gold-miners aside from in their dreams, why are so many people flocking to Alaska to find gold? The novel shows us that everyone is after wealth in one way or another.
Quote #4
"I said, I don't have any more money. Or any gold. Or any food. I have a wife and a daughter and my boy, but I don't have any money." (11.18)
Einar tells Mr. Salisbury of his situation, and it's not the last time in the book he or his family are questioned about how much money they have. We see them with nothing in the flashbacks so that we can understand just how significant a lump of gold would be to them.
Quote #5
"He's a man who tests the gold. He sees how pure it is. The purer it is, the more it's worth. Every town needs an Assay Office, and this place is going to have one. And I'm going to be the man who does the testing and the weighing and the paying." (12.3)
Einar's job testing and paying out for gold is not a coincidence—it's the way he makes his fortune and gets his family out of the rut. Plus, it's directly dealing with exactly what Einar wants more than anything: gold.
Quote #6
At that, Anna and Sig had both paid attention. No one got presents. It simply didn't happen. They didn't have money for that kind of thing, but Einar had explained. (18.15)
The fact that the family doesn't even have enough money for presents tells just how poor they are, but it also shows us that you don't need money to be happy. Sig and Anna feel loved and happy without having much money at all.
Quote #7
"Father had no gold," Anna said. "We left Nome as poor as we are now. Can't you see with your own eyes? If we'd been rich, do you think we'd have ended up living in this place?" (29.24)
Anna points this out to Wolff as a way of convincing him they are poor, but Wolff is too obsessed with money to believe her. And you know what? He ends up being right about Einar in the end.
Quote #8
He had forgotten about gold, about revenge, about lust. All he wanted to do was kill them both, and Sig did not doubt that even in his wounded state, he could still do that. (38.9)
For Wolff, it starts out being about the gold he feels was stolen from him, but after a decade of searching and getting nowhere, he's more interested in getting even. Still though, he forces Sig to take him out to where the gold might be even though Einar is already dead. Is wealth more important than his life?
Quote #9
I have something for all of you, but I have hidden it until I know it is safe for you to have it. One day, a man will come. And only when he has gone again, will it be safe for you to have it. When he has gone, take this map and start a new life. I know you can do this, for you are all wonderful and clever people. (39.15)
In the letter from Einar, Sig learns that the gold is real for his family. At this point, Sig is just happy to be alive, and glad that his sister isn't hurt… but a little gold doesn't hurt either.
Quote #10
It hadn't been so very much money really, but they'd spent it wisely, after convincing Nadya that there was not really anything else they could do with it. They'd bought a stake in Per Bergman's mine, and in the end the iron business had made them very rich. (39.18)
Nadya and Sig have different ideas about whether they should keep the money, since it was stolen from other people. Do you agree with Nadya that they shouldn't spend the money, or is Sig right that the harm is already done, so they might as well benefit from it?