Character Analysis: Out Stealing Horses

REFLECTIVE STATEMENT

How was your understanding of cultural and contextual considerations of the work developed through the interactive oral?

For the duration of our interactive oral we discussed how the careful and subdued way in which Out Stealing Horses is written, shows the importance of the culture and environment of Norway. This presented us a leading line throughout the novel; the prominent feeling for the need of isolation. This feeling can be traced back to the scarring history of Norway, being invaded and occupied in the Second World War, thereby leaving the idea of justice and moral codes. We discussed this noteworthy topic, each time focussing on different occasions and characters. It was then made clear that the cultural background

In Per Petterson’s Out Stealing Horses the beauty of solitude is reflected in the acceptance of abandonment and in how youthful innocence developed in the need for isolation. This is primarily seen in the main protagonist Trond, who once was simply an innocent boy who experienced loss in different ways at an early stage in life. The events eventually resulted in total isolation from society with the urge to surround himself with pure and simple nature of Norway.

Trond starts off as a young optimistic individual in the process of learning the harsh reality of life. Relatively naïve and wet behinds his ears, he and his father spend the summer of 1948 in a cabin in one of the far-flung areas of Norway. For the first time in Trond’s life, he spent a long amount of time alone with his father. Trond was used to being the only male present in his family, which consisted of his mother and sister, for the reason that his father was prone to leaving for long, unexplained amounts of time. During this summer he learned about himself, his father and life in general. During his stay his father learned him about his role as a man and the expectations that come with it. That resulted in Trond, as a young man, trying to prove his manhood to his father. It was there where he learned to suffer in silence. “You decide when it will hurt”, his father said. This later on developed in the suppression of emotional outburst, which is one of the most influential traumatic experiences Trond went through. This suppression lead to longing to escape present life and retreat to nature. It was also there where his father became a hero for being the most intelligent and strong figure he knew. He discovered his love for his father and the mutual love