What Does it Mean to Be Good?

In her new novel Det gode mennesket i Sandvika [The Good Person in Sandvika], Vigdis Hjorth depicts a woman who wants to do the right thing – and who, in her attempt to be good, also risks making mistakes. The novel explores how good intentions can collide with blind spots, class bias and the need to appear morally irreproachable. With her characteristic sharpness, Hjorth dissects self-deception, idealism and the small and large betrayals that can be hidden in a desire to live right.

What does it really mean to be a “good person”? Are there limits to charity? And why is it so easy to deceive ourselves – and others – in our attempts to do good?

In conversation with Olaug Nilssen, Hjorth takes us into the ethical labyrinths of the novel and asks how we navigate in a time when goodness is both a personal ideal, a social requirement – and a potential pitfall.

The conversation will be held in Norwegian.