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HELMER FAILS AT MAINTAINING A GOOD IMAGE TO THE SOCIETY

Many strive to keep up with what is perceived to be outstanding image of the society. Most often, we are rewarded for this. However, sometimes we try to hard to the detriment of our family  and friends as can be seen in the play A Doll's House. 

Helmer is one of the key characters in the play being the husband to our protagonist Norah. In order to keep up with society, Helmer steers clear from whatever can destroy his reputation. 

Norah knows well Helmer's stand on how one is to conduct themselves in the society. However, she goes ahead and borrows a hefty sum of money from Krogstad. To add insult to injury, she forged her late father's signature to the bond she used to secure the loan. 

Krogstad would never have revealed Norah's oversight but things within the play thickens when Helmer is promoted to a bank manager position. Having gained superior status, Helmer seeks to rid the bank of workers with bad reputation. 

As it were, Krogstad is the most vile person in the society having committed forgery many years ago. Threatened by the loss of his livelihood, Krogstad decides not to go down alone. This comes after Norah failed to dissuade her husband not to sack Krogstad. 

Norah understands very well what Krogstad could do to her self-righteous husband. Although she plans to discreetly solve the matter, Mrs Linde-her friend believes it's best if Helmer learns the whole truth. All this while, Helmer has never known that his naive wife was capable of taking such huge risks. 

When Helmer learns of Norah's misdeeds and Krogstad's demands-fearing the public humiliation- he prepares to bow before Krogstads. However, little did he know that, Krogstad after meeting the love of his life-Mrs Linde- had decided to drop the matter. 

On learning about Krogstad's change of heart, Helmer is jubilant. But Norah is not. She has learned that her husband was more interested in protecting his own public image other than protecting her from the manipulative Krogstad. She had thought that her husband would challenge Krogstad for her sake but he had chosen to bend to the whims of Krogstad just to keep the secret of the bond from being revealed to the public. Therefore, she divorces Helmer. This is a much bigger humiliation given that the Helmer's were an enviable family in the society. 

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