Christy

Christy is a grocer in Groenlandsleret, a minor figure whose brief encounter with the starving narrator encapsulates the capricious cruelty of the job market in Christiania. He appears only once in the story, but his decision—based on a single, meaningless mistake—closes off one of the narrator's few remaining hopes for honest work and a meal.

Identity and Business

Christy runs a small grocery shop in Groenlandsleret, where he is seen pasting together bags made from old newspaper when the narrator first visits him. He is a practical, no-nonsense tradesman, the kind who values precision in figures above all else. The narrator, having spotted an advertisement for a man to do a couple of hours of bookkeeping per week, sends in an application, hoping to underbid any competitor and secure even a few pence.

The Rejection

When the narrator calls in person to follow up, Christy immediately recognizes the name and laughs. He produces the letter from his breast pocket and points out that the narrator dated it "1848" instead of the correct year. "You see I must have a man who, as a matter of fact, makes no mistakes in figures," Christy explains, adding that he has already decided on another man. The narrator protests that the error was a mere distraction, a want of thought, and that it should not render him unfit to keep books, but Christy is unmoved. The place is filled, and the interview is over.

Consequences and Significance

The rejection is a devastating blow. The narrator, already starving and desperate, had pinned his last hopes on this position. The absurdity of being turned away for a date written four decades off—a slip born of his feverish, half-starved state—drives him into a fury. He stumbles out of the shop, sets his teeth, and jostles against peaceful folk on the footpath, screaming a meaningless word in a stranger's ear and clenching his fist. Christy himself never reappears, but his casual dismissal marks a turning point: the narrator's last respectable avenue for income is closed, and he is pushed further toward theft, begging, and the final decision to leave the city. Christy functions as a representative of the indifferent, rule-bound world that has no room for a man whose very hunger has made him careless.