Of Rivalries and Spurring Changes

As history has shown, rivalries are inherent parts of our lives. One does not have to look far to find examples. In the recently concluded Olympic Games, various rivalries were featured. The United States and China, for instance, were once again battling it out to top the medal table. At the swimming pool, American, Australian, and Chinese swimmers were making splashes. The men’s tennis finals highlighted the growing rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz; it was also, at once, a battle of the generations and a symbolic changing of the guards. Host France went up against the United States in men’s basketball, a replay of their Tokyo 2020 finals showdown. Both finals went to the Americans. Across the various sporting venues and sports disciplines resonated with rivalries. The spirit of the competition was soaring high.

The pinnacle of sports, the Olympics highlighted rivalries but also underscored how healthy competition breeds class. Several heartwarming moments between competitors were on display. The gymnasts were cheering for each other, regardless of the country they were representing. The pole vaulters were cheering loudly for Armand Duplantis when the Swedish superstar challenged his own record; he would reestablish both the Olympics and World records with the feat. The sprinters were quick to complement and congratulate each other despite the heat of the moment. Competition can be fierce but a healthy competition not only creates champions but also builds the character of the competitors. This was evident across all the sports featured in the Olympics. Rivalries and conflicts were also at the heart of Fredrik Backman’s Us Against You.

The sequel to Beartown, Us Against You picks up from where its successor left off. At the heart of the novel is Beartown, a Swedish countryside village on the verge of collapse. It was once teeming with pride because of the successes of its Ice Hockey team. Following years of futility and a downward trend in both social and economic aspects, Beartown’s fortune was about to get a drastic reversal when the junior team trailblazed into the semifinals of the national competition. The team was led by ice hockey prodigy Kevin Erdahl. The townspeople were naturally ecstatic. They were brimming with pride. However, it didn’t take long before their hopes were pulled down the drain following a scandal involving Kevin and Maya, the daughter of the ice hockey team’s manager and former ice hockey prodigy Peter Andersson. This scandal exposed the fault lines hiding underneath the façade.

“The worst thing we know about other people is that we’re dependent upon them. That their actions affect our lives. Not just the people we choose, the people we like, but all the rest of them: the idiots. You who stand in front of us in every line, who can’t drive properly, who like bad television shows and talk too loud in restaurants and whose kids infect our kids with the winter vomiting bug at preschool. You who park badly and steal our jobs and vote for the wrong party. You also influence our lives, every second.”

~ Fredrik Backman, Us Against You

In Us Against You, the town’s morale has naturally dipped. The bleak atmosphere returned. The town’s identity and core were shaken by the scandal. In the scandal’s aftermath, everyone tried to pick up the pieces, resume their lives, and heal from the trauma. But are they really healing or are they running away? Take the Erdahls who were quick to retreat from the town. This was only the start of an exodus involving the members of the erstwhile successful junior Ice Hockey David, their coach, moved to the town of Hed. Stringing along with him were the majority of Beartown’s junior team, particularly those who stood behind their former teammate. Following the furor, everyone seems to be moving on. This is, however, not the case for everyone for there were some who were in dire need of help.

Benji, Kevin’s best friend but who stood up for Maya, found himself on the path to destruction. One of the things he valued the most, ice hockey, has virtually left him when his teammates moved to Hed. The case is the same for Amat, the small but talented ice hockey player. Both were holding on to the hope of playing on the ice skating rink again. The Andersson household was no different as their lives were starting to unravel. Peter and his wife Kira were slowly drifting apart. The death of their son Isak still weighed heavily on them and the recent scandal surrounding Maya exacerbated their sense of guilt, widening the chasm between them that existed previously. Their children were aware of this rift but they kept to their own devices as they have concerns they have to settle themselves. Maya was still recovering from the trauma. Leo, her brother, wanted to avenge what happened to his sister.

It was at this critical juncture that the town was given a chance for revival through, yet again, its Ice Hockey club. Elisabeth Zackell was a world-champion hockey player. Out of the blue, she appeared in Beartown and presented herself to be the next coach of the Ice Hockey team, not the junior team but the senior team. She started by scouting for players who could revitalize the team. When she forwarded her proposal to the stakeholders, everyone was astounded. She was supposed to be a breath of fresh air because she was a woman trying to take over a sport driven by testosterone. Despite her credentials, the senior team was apprehensive, with some muttering derogatory terms. The townspeople were equally reluctant with Zackell and her ability to guide the team.

Will she be able to succeed in gaining the team and the town’s confidence and approval? The odds were obviously stacked against her but Zackell was nonplussed. She was driven by the desire to win, the very same mantra upon which the Beartown Ice Hockey team was built. She was able to convince and recruit Benji, Amat, and even Bobo – another carryover from the old Beartown junior ice hockey team who chose not to join the exodus to Hed. The most intriguing part of her plan, however, was the integration of Vidar Rinnius, a once-talented goalie who was born to be a troublemaker – into the team. She had everything ironed out. These were broad but genius strokes nevertheless. But as the saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting. Now, Zackell must earn her stripes. Her case was one of many instances of Us Against Yous that permeated the story.

“Two people who have loved each for long enough eventually seem to stop touching each other consciously, it becomes something instinctive; when they meet between the hall and kitchen, their bodies somehow find each other. When they walk through a door, her hand ends up in his as if by accident. Tiny collisions, every day, all the time. Impossible to construct. So when they disappear, no one knows why, but suddenly two people are living parallel lives instead of together.”

~ Fredrik Backman, Us Against You

The most palpable instance of an Us Against You – the book’s title was a kind of mantra that was repeatedly uttered by the characters throughout the story – was the rivalry between Hed and Beartown. Both towns were not only battling for pride but wanted to dominate the ice rink because domination entailed more investments which could revitalize the respective towns. Thus enters Richard Theo, a traditional politician whose main goal was to scale the political ladder and gain more influence. He was also another case of us against you because the more affluent politicians of the town and ordinary townspeople frowned upon him. But he was cunning, masterfully orchestrating everything from his seat in the lower sections of the town hall. He had no scruples about manipulating people to gain unfair advantages. His presence underlines how politics have influenced not only sports but our daily lives.

The factory in Beartown, thus, takes an allegorical form. When Theo interjected himself into the Ice Hockey team, the factory was one of his bargaining chips. He realized its importance to the town. It was the town’s single biggest employer but the economic downturn has not been kind to it. The injection of fresh capital would redress this. However, it comes with a price that places Peter at a crossroads. Again, us against you. Peter’s case was one of several instances where the intricacies of loyalties were depicted. In a story brimming with crossroads, loyalty is a seminal element. Our loyalties – to our families, friends, and even communities – drive us to make choices that go against our grain. As human beings, we are flawed and these flaws prompt us to sacrifice our values and morals because of our loyalties.

Backman again paints the vivid portrait of a community where obscured fault lines continue to create rifts between its denizens. The myopic views of the denizens were persistent. When a character was revealed to be homosexual, the initial reaction was disdain. He was cognizant that he was going to be viewed as an anomaly because the town viewed sexuality as black or white. Zackell’s case also underlined the prejudices and deeply ingrained misogyny that permeate small towns. Because of her demeanor, the townspeople considered Zackell a lesbian even without asking her about her sexual orientation. These concerns, however, barely make it to the surface as the characters also struggle with the sense of isolation within the community. The denizens tend to keep their struggles to themselves rather than discuss them openly.

The denizens’ and the characters’ proclivity for silence in light of traumatic experiences leads to another subject prevalent in the landscape of Backman’s oeuvre: mental health. Backman underscored how our rejection of any help from those around us, including our families and friends, can only worsen what is weighing down on us. While it maintaining our independence is sacred, it is not always a solution. Often, the characters were battling against their own demons because of the silence that embraced them. Further, calling for help or opening up about our concerns does not make us weak, a perception held by most of the characters. This is an important lesson that the characters, including Benji, would learn throughout the story.

“Violence is the easiest and the hardest thing in the world to understand. Some of us are prepared to use it to get power, others only in self-defense, some all the time, others not at all. But then there’s another type, unlike all the others, who seems to fight entirely without purpose. Ask anyone who has looked into a pair of those eyes when they turn dark, and you’ll realize that we belong to different species. No one can really know if those people lack something that other people possess or if it’s the other way around. If something goes out inside them when they clench their fists or if something switches on.”

~ Fredrik Backman, Us Against You

As conflicts pervade the story, a bleakness hovered above the story. However, Us Against You also resonates with positive messages. Backman captured the power of redemption and second chances. Vidar exemplified this. He basked in the second chance provided to him. This is also because he found a support system in the Senior team and his peers. The overtones of romance also changed his perspective. Another manifestation of love was the town’s unwavering passion for the sport of Ice Hockey. Through thick and thin, they were behind the team. Although it is one of the major sources of conflict, Ice Hockey is a constant and poignant reminder of their glory days. Ice Hockey united a town that is otherwise divided. Elsewhere, the novel further elucidated on subjects established in the first book such as the intricacies of families, the individual’s role in the community, and sexuality.

Forgiveness was also an overriding theme. As the characters confront their demons, they learn to forgive themselves, those around them, and their pasts. They learn to stand up for themselves. Hope springs eternal and the characters slowly unpack whatever weighed them down. In doing so, they start the process of healing and rebuilding their lives. The journey was painstaking but they eventually found the strength within to heal amidst the adversities they faced. This entailed dismantling their skewed loyalties. They stood up for what was just. This also underlined their resilience. Beartown was also resilient. Like the characters, the community had to weather several storms. Despite the odds stacked against them – including some losses along the way -the denizens of Beartown learn to move forward and continue to live and love.

Like its predecessor, Us Against You is a vivid and potent examination and exploration of the individual and communities. Backman built on the successes of Beartown while, at the same time, elucidating on concerns hinted at in the first book. While these novels masquerade as sports novels, they are stories about the cycle of life; new relationships flourish but tragic losses also occur. It is the story of resilience, healing, and being able to find the voice despite the hubbub. Staying true to the spirit of its title, Us Against You is riddled with different forms of conflicts – between towns, between individuals, and, ultimately, between one’s self – but it was also these conflicts, astutely woven together by Backman into a lush tapestry, that can bring out the best in us. Us Against You is yet another testament to Backman’s uncanny understanding of the human spirit, complemented by his superb storytelling and writing.

“The only thing you can rely on in all towns, big and small alike, is that there will be broken people. It’s nothing to do with the place, just life; it can beat us up. And if that happens, it’s easy to find your way to a pub; bars can quickly become sad places. Someone who has nowhere else to go can grasp a glass a little too tightly; someone who’s tired of falling can take refuge in the bottom of a bottle, seeing as you can’t fall much further from there.”

~ Fredrik Backman, Us Against You
Book Specs

Author: Fredrik Backman
Translator (from Swedish): Neil Smith
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Publishing Date: 2019 (2017)
No. of Pages: 434
Genre: Literary

Synopsis

The residents of Beartown are tough, hardworking people who don’t expect life to be easy or fair. They’ve always been able to take pride in their local ice hockey team, especially when they are victorious over their longtime rivals in the neighboring town of Hed. But just when it seems that Beartown Ice Hockey might be disbanded due to the defection of their best players to Hed, the team gets a surprising new coach – and a chance at a comeback. Bringing the team together, however, proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the bitterness between the adversaries threatens to turn into violence.

With immense compassion and insight, Fredrik Backman reveals how loyalty, friendship, and kindness can carry a town through its most challenging days.

About the Author

To learn more about Fredrik Backman, click here.