Paas with his first wife Krõõt, who dies after giving birth to their first son. Andres, who wants to defend what he considers right, eventually loses his vision of right and wrong, and manages to cheat his archenemy, Pearu. In the second part Indrek enters a private school in a town, actually Tartu, although Tammsaare does not mention its name. Indrek falls in love with Ramilda, the daughter of the school director. She dies of tuberculosis and Indrek renounces God, publishing an article in the school paper which gets him expelled from school. In the third part Indrek participates in the revolutionary events of 1905 but is terrified by its frenzy. The fourth part is set in independent Estonia. Indrek has married Karin; they have two children. After having found out that Karin has been unfaithful, he nearly kills her. Indrek is released on probation. Karin dies in a traffic accident. In the fifth part Indrek returns to his native village. Part One Volume I gives a generalized overview of life in Estonian village and farmers battle against nature in the last quarter of 19th century. From a great number of characters, two stand out. Two contrasting men – unique and powerful types, each of whom manifests the characteristics of the Estonian peasant. The whole character of Vargamäe Andres and his destiny is a deeply elaborated artistic generalization of the individual peasant's life and struggle under the harsh conditions of northern Estonia. After arriving at his new home, Andres finds himself next to a devious neighbor, Tagapere Pearu. At first Andres doesn’t take Pearu’s tricks too seriously, but soon Pearu turns out to be as persistent in his grit as Andres is in hard work, and Andres starts to become more and more stern. He starts to fight Pearu with his own means, but is unable to fix the tragic mistakes in his own personal life. Soon Andres becomes more of a somber despot than Pearu ever was. As he sees his ideals failing, Andres searches for consolation in the Bible but becomes more and more self-contained. Pearu on the other hand seems to enjoy an easygoing life. 1905 revolution affects Andres and his family in horrible ways. Now Andres also loses faith in God. Part Two The action, based largely on the author’s own memories, takes place in the private grammar school of Mr. Maurus in the early years