Finnish Stereotypes

Contemporary Stereotypes

Before the exploration of Finnish stereotypes in the novel, let’s recognize that stereotypes are present in societies past and present. This human activity of sorting our peers serves purposes which are positive and negative.

We “sort” our fellow humans by age groups (teenagers, seniors), personalities (introvert, extrovert), activities (jock, geek), neighborhoods (east-side, inner city), work (white and blue collar) citizenship (nativist, immigrant) and of course by race and nation. We also form prejudices and scapegoat within the “sorts” we have “observed”.

These “sorts” are not a rationalization for or a judgment on these types of characterizations of people. There are simply an observation of a common human behavior. However, a systemic dehumanization of a particular “sort” of humans is a serious ethical problem.

Incident at the Bruce Mine Shaft primarily focuses on one ethnic group, Finnish, and one socio-economic class, the worker about whom “sorts” have historically been made.

A quick survey of contemporary Finnish stereotypes can be found on the internet.

Europeans have stereotypes about Finland. The most common is the depiction of Finnish as introverted and emotionless, therefore rude. An example this in a Finnish joke: “An introverted Finn looks at his shoes when talking to you; an extroverted Finn looks at your shoes”. Another behavior supposedly contributing to this stereotype is the phenomenon of silence in conversation.

The traits of shyness, self-possession, no foolishness, depression prone and suicide are also linked to Finns. In Russia, Finlanders are typed as slow-witted and slow-talking, emotionless, and unable to hold their alcohol. They are also portrayed as drunken and aggressive with knives.

In the best stereotypes, Finland is regarded as a wealthy and progressive society with great welfare system.

 

Early Finnish Stereotypes

The Finnish people in the novel were radical in their politics. Because of this radicalism, stereotypes were made. Often, they were used to label all Finns. In the multi-tiered society which evolved on the Mesabi Iron Range, with the older immigrants from Northern Europe were on top and the newly arrived southern Europeans and Finlanders were on the bottom.

Polly Bullard, an Eveleth School Teacher, in 1908, described in a personal letter her summary of the people she works and lives with “… They say there are 10,000 people here but only 2000 are civilized folks – of the others, the Austrians and the Finns are the majority.”  Only two ethnicities are mentioned: Austrians and Finns. The word Austrian was often used for eastern Europeans who were a part of the Hapsburg Empire that collapsed after World War I.

This characterization of the immigrants has an unknown authorship, ““The Irish, English, Scotch and French Canadians have worked up from unskilled labor to skilled occupations in the mines. Many Finns, however,” he noted, “seemed to thrive where hardships are most severe, but their progress in the mines is retarded by the surliness and radicalism.” Among the newer immigrants the writer concluded, “… the Poles are good workmen but not all that ambitious … the Croatians are lazy, indifferent workmen and are among the lowest in the industrial scale.”

One of the more frightening incidents of bias towards the Finnish acted out is described in an article from a Duluth newspaper: In September 1918, a group calling itself the Knights of Liberty dragged Finnish immigrant Ollie Kinkkonen from his boarding house, tarred and feathered him and lynched him. His body was found two weeks later hanging in a tree in Duluth’s Lester Park. Kinkkonen did not want to fight in World War I and planned to return to Finland.

A common nickname for the Finnish lumbermen was Jack Pine Savages. This derogatory nickname equated them with the Native Americans of the area, who were hated. This label has lasted. For example, Jack Pine Savage Days are celebrated in Spooner, WI every year. The participants of this festival may not understand the origins of the nickname, but the characters in the novel did (Chapter 12, The Fight).