Britt-Marie Was Here

Bank’s childhood best friend turned drinking buddy, Somebody is an innovative jack-of-all-trades with a slight manipulative streak. She is also Britt-Marie’s foil. Brash but friendly, she welcomes Britt-Marie to Borg and acts as her guide to the town and its people. Although Britt-Marie is initially put off by Somebody’s organized chaos, they soon become friends.

While Britt-Marie turns to the rat and the unemployment case worker as pseudo-therapists, Somebody is the one who pushes Britt-Marie to grow. Unlike Kent, who constantly cuts Britt-Marie down, Somebody supports her, even when Britt-Marie asks her to hang up a picture at the break of dawn. Somebody is the one who advises Britt-Marie about the children and finagles a front row seat with Britt-Marie at the soccer competition because she has a “[c]alming effect on Britt” (257). In return, she values Britt-Marie because Britt-Marie treats her like a human who “[h]appen[s] to have the wheelchair [...] not a wheelchair that happens to have [a] human” (170). In a healthier way than Kent, Somebody also hopes that Britt-Marie will stay—or at least return—to Borg, but ultimately respects Britt-Marie’s final decision.

Sami is Vega and Omar’s older brother and Magnus’s best friend. He functions as the tragic hero/martyr in the novel and represents the weary optimism of Borg’s residents. Britt-Marie sees a kindred soul in him because of his tragic past and family-oriented determination. His death teaches her to let go of her burdens.

Sami grew up protecting his mother and siblings from their violent father, who had an alcohol addiction. After their father’s abandonment, their mother died in a trucking accident. Ever since, Sami has been “mother and father, as well as older brother” (154) to his siblings. Although he has little hope of officially gaining custody for his siblings due to his criminal record and connections as well as his unemployment, he is determined to keep the family together. Although he is not yet 20, like Britt-Marie, he is a stickler for maintaining their home, impressing Britt-Marie with his cutlery drawer, prompt dinnertimes, and proper table manners. In turn, he advises her about how to coach soccer, a sport he loves but can’t play professionally because of his life obligations.

Sami mirrors Britt-Marie’s past self with Kent, but instead of despairing, he pushes on. Like Borg, he is hugely disadvantaged, but struggles on regardless. His determination is a double-edged sword, however, as he can’t let go of his loyalty to Magnus even after Magnus endangers his siblings, and he eventually dies because of it. His choice to always step in is both his heroic trait and his undoing, but his death brings the town together to care for Vega and Omar, fulfilling his last request.

Vega is the middle sibling and only girl in her family. She works for Somebody in the general store and pizzeria and is Borg’s current soccer prodigy, known for her sliding tackles. While she initially dislikes Britt-Marie and Max for their outsider status and higher social class, she grows attached to them. She is passionate about soccer and incredibly loyal to her team, refusing to join the girls’ team in the neighboring town because Borg’s team is her team.

Vega is the unofficial leader of the Borg team, and she, like Sami, is forced to grow up quickly. While through most of the book she seems to be in an eternal teenage rebellious phase, she isn’t oblivious to the obstacles around her. She demands to watch soccer in the recreation center to protect the youth from the drunk adults in the pizzeria and relies on dependable Sven in emergencies. She dislikes Kent’s flashy attitude and is slow to trust but forever loyal. Though she seems brash and angry, she is actually scared and only voluntarily cleans when she is upset. After Sami’s death, she becomes de facto head of the family, and like Sami and Britt-Marie, she takes up cleaning as a coping method. Soccer is also a balm for her: “I don’t feel any pain when I’m playing soccer,” she tells Britt-Marie (263), and only revives after Sami’s funeral by playing soccer. In this way, like Borg, she chooses life over death, and hope over despair.

Omar is the youngest of the three siblings and Vega’s opposite—they are even born in opposite ends of the same year. He is blunt and relatively immature, often voicing things that others are thinking but are too polite to say, such as when he insults Bank’s vision and weight. Still, Omar is usually friendly, well-intentioned, and opportunistic, always looking to give people deals “at a special price” (75). He is therefore enamored with Kent and his flashy entrepreneurship, but unlike Vega, he is oblivious to the flaws underneath. However, he is the first to accept Max into the soccer team, as long as he proves a match for Vega. Omar also encourages Sven and Britt-Marie’s budding romance, unaware of the complications beneath the surface.

While Vega seems angry but is actually scared, Omar seems scared but is actually angry. After Sami’s death, he initially gives into violent vengeance, seeking to murder Sami’s killers much in the way he feared Sami would do to Magnus after the robbery. He is eventually talked down, but his companions are not. In this way, he symbolizes both a young Magnus and Borg when Britt-Marie arrived: Magnus had already chosen his dark path, but Omar can—and does—turn back. Borg, on the verge of collapse, can pull itself back on its feet, but must choose to do so. After the soccer match, it does.