Matteus

Matteus is Konrad Sejer’s grandson, an adopted-from-Somalia young man who came to Norway at four and became a promising dancer at the Opera ballet school. His ambition to perform as Siegfried in Swan Lake gives his brief appearances a distinct thread of hope and forward motion. Through Sejer’s affectionate attention, the novel also makes Matteus’s opportunity—and the possibility that the role might not be imagined as belonging to a Black dancer—part of the story.

Identity and Background

Matteus is the eighteen-year-old son of Sejer’s daughter. Adopted from Somalia, he arrived in Norway when he was four; by the time Sejer thinks about him, he has become a promising pupil at the Opera ballet school. Sejer’s private description of his grandson emphasizes both his dancer’s physique and the strength of his coffee-coloured muscles. The detail conveys the bodily discipline and potential that Sejer sees in him, while establishing how closely the older man follows his progress.

That attention is not merely pride in an abstract achievement. Sejer knows the particular role Matteus wants, the date of his audition, and what the opportunity could mean. The dancer’s ambitions have a place in the family’s everyday conversation, even as Sejer’s work repeatedly draws him toward the community’s fears and conflicts.

The Siegfried Audition

The Opera ballet school has announced that one pupil will have the chance to make a guest appearance on the main stage in April. Matteus is to audition on October 10 for Siegfried, the prince in Swan Lake. Sejer understands that the stakes are real: his grandson wants the part, but he faces many good dancers. The prospect gives the audition the weight of a possible opening into the professional ballet world, rather than the significance of a routine school exercise.

Sejer’s concern turns to who gets to embody a prince. He wonders aloud whether the selectors will choose a Black dancer, adding Robin Hood and Peter Pan as examples of roles that, in his view, do not seem to be cast as Black. Skarre asks him to give an example, prompting Sejer to make his unease concrete. The exchange does not establish how the audition panel will decide, but it reveals that Sejer sees racial convention as one possible obstacle alongside the competition itself. His concern is protective: the opportunity matters, and he fears that Matteus may be judged against assumptions that have little to do with his dancing.

Injury, Audition, and Composure

Before the audition, Matteus pulls a muscle in his thigh during rehearsal while doing the splits. Ingrid breaks the news to Sejer dramatically; his immediate response is a rush of questions about the injury, its seriousness, and whether Matteus fell. Later, when Matteus arrives, Sejer notices that he is limping. The injury gives the audition a physical complication, though the evidence does not say whether it affected his performance.

When October comes, Matteus attends the audition and visits Sejer late that afternoon with a Puma bag over his shoulder. Sejer presses him for the result. Matteus’s smile and eyes seem promising, but his answer turns to Robert Riegel, whom he identifies as a phenomenal dancer. The exchange suggests disappointment, yet does not explicitly confirm who received the part. Matteus seems oddly unmoved as he squats to stroke Frank; the sensitivity in his brown hands contrasts with the competitive pressure surrounding him. He tells Sejer that self-control is a virtue, that he has learned calm from him, and that he cannot waste energy: he has to go on to new heights. His response frames ambition not as the absence of setback, but as a reason to continue.

Family Bond and Narrative Role

Sejer’s interest in Matteus is expressed through precise, intimate attention: he remembers the audition date, worries about casting, reacts sharply to news of the pulled muscle, and demands to hear how the tryout went. Matteus, in turn, treats his grandfather as someone whose calm can be learned from. Their conversation allows pride and concern to coexist without either man turning the audition into a grand declaration; the small gestures—a bag dropped to the floor, a hand on Frank’s head, Sejer’s anxious questions—carry the emotional weight.

Matteus also turns the conversation outward. After telling Sejer to stop pouting, he asks how things are going with Johnny Beskow, then asks whether Sejer has found out about the dogs. Sejer explains that Johnny’s mother is in custody, that Johnny is at home awaiting trial with a hamster for company, and that he must report to the station three times a week. He describes Johnny as smart but somewhat twisted, and says that others might like him if they gave him a chance and someone taught him basic rules. Matteus’s questions show that he has been following the investigation and is interested in both the boy and the unresolved matter of the dogs. The juxtaposition is telling: his pursuit of a demanding artistic future unfolds alongside a conversation about a young person caught in the consequences of harm. Matteus is not given a separate investigative role, but his concern and his steady exchange with Sejer make him more than a source of family pride; he is an attentive presence in his grandfather’s life.