Beartown

Maya’s guitar is a symbol of how it is possible to live in Beartown and to remain indifferent to hockey. Maya plays her guitar at every chance, creating music instead of fawning over the team or practicing sports. Music is so important to her that Peter learns the drums so he can be closer to her and give her someone to play with. Her brief infatuation with Kevin brings her the closest she will get to caring about hockey. After the rape, her hands shake too badly to play, although she manages to start playing again, with time. Amat, who shows that he truly loves her and is sorry about what happened, spends 5,000 kronor to buy a new guitar for her, even though he and his mother could use the money. In the future, the narrator reveals that it is the only guitar Maya is willing to play. She uses her guitar to make a life for herself out of Beartown, escaping the shadow of the crime, and of the fear she felt for so long.