Sweden and the ocean are the two main settings in the first novel, The Emigrants (1949). The story begins when Karl Oskar's father, Nils clears the small amount of land they own from stones. The very first chapter is called "King in His Stone Kingdom". The use of the image of stones in the novel reflects the dissatisfaction in the old home, and the reason for Karl Oskar and his family to want to leave it. It represents immobility and lifelessness which the family experiences in Sweden. The farm, Korpamoen, is described multiple times as the Stone Kingdom in an almost sarcastic way, because it becomes clear that being the ruler of this stone kingdom only leads to poverty and hardship. The clearing of the land is described as a physical fight
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[…] It was a silent struggle between Nils and the stone, a fight between an inert mass and the living muscles." (p. 4). Here the landscape is personified as something that physically fights back. The stones have been given an agency; the ability to do. They even cause Nils's wife to miscarry while she tries to help him dig up a boulder (p. 4). Eventually, Nils's fight with the stones ends when one of them falls on his leg, and he becomes a crippled man (p. 5). However, the fight continues as it passes from father to son, and Karl Oskar becomes the one to conquer the stony landscape: "wherever he looked: broken stones, stones in piles, stone fences, stone above ground, stone in the ground, stone, stone, stone… […] Karl Oskar had become king in a stone kingdom." (p. 12). It stands out here that Moberg changed 'his stone kingdom' from the chapter title to 'a stone kingdom'. Clearly, it is not Karl Oskar's kingdom, even though he has become the official owner and the main worker on the land. Furthermore, the repetition of the word 'stone' throughout the chapter reinforces the struggle of Karl Oskar and his father against the landscape in their old home. Later, when Karl Oskar is already thinking of leaving
[…] It was a silent struggle between Nils and the stone, a fight between an inert mass and the living muscles." (p. 4). Here the landscape is personified as something that physically fights back. The stones have been given an agency; the ability to do. They even cause Nils's wife to miscarry while she tries to help him dig up a boulder (p. 4). Eventually, Nils's fight with the stones ends when one of them falls on his leg, and he becomes a crippled man (p. 5). However, the fight continues as it passes from father to son, and Karl Oskar becomes the one to conquer the stony landscape: "wherever he looked: broken stones, stones in piles, stone fences, stone above ground, stone in the ground, stone, stone, stone… […] Karl Oskar had become king in a stone kingdom." (p. 12). It stands out here that Moberg changed 'his stone kingdom' from the chapter title to 'a stone kingdom'. Clearly, it is not Karl Oskar's kingdom, even though he has become the official owner and the main worker on the land. Furthermore, the repetition of the word 'stone' throughout the chapter reinforces the struggle of Karl Oskar and his father against the landscape in their old home. Later, when Karl Oskar is already thinking of leaving