Monday, February 23, 2009

Characterization

The main character in Out Stealing Horses is Trond Sander. He lives in a secluded area, and seems to be very reserved. He takes care of the necessities of his own life, and rarely more. This is evident in the fact that he is repairing his house by himself, rather than hiring a skilled carpenter to do it. This action also shows that he has discovered that he values time in itself. His decisions are made based on importance. For example, when his neighbor's dog is lost at night, he decides that the loss of sleep and loss of a good demeanor the next day is worth getting up to help. It is also evident that Trond has always been one to go along with others' ideas. We also learn that his friend Jon had been bringing him into risky situations in his teen years- whatever Jon wanted to do was what they did. This can also be interpreted as the characterization of Trond as being easily-influenced, which could prove to be an important trait to recognize.

9 comments:

  1. I agree that Trond wanting to fix up his own house shows his character. It is interesting that he chooses to go help his neighbor find his dog in the middle of the night when he views it as such an annoyance. It shows that he likes to be alone when it is revealed that Trond is neither good at nor enjoys small talk.

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  2. Nice observations and to add to the event of Trond helping out in the night, it shows that Trond has maybe learned some helpful pointers from his father too be helpful to others. Ultimatly somewhat showing that Trond is maybe a lot like his father.

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  3. While it's true that Trond is reserved, I do think that he carries himself well in social situations. About the dog finding event, I think that it shows that Trond can rise to the occasion and be sociable, even though he would much prefer to be alone.

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  4. I agree with Daria, I think that Trond's ability to talk in social situations isn't bad its just that he doesn't always want to talk to people. You can see that he isn't bad in the part of the book where he goes to the mechanic and sits down to a nice conversation. However he would prefer to not be there.

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  5. Stacey,
    great observations of Trond. I agree with Daria and Nels though, as much as he would much rather be by himself and not interact with others, the lost dog "scene" shows that he is able to rise to the occasion and socially interact with others even though he is a bit weak in those situations.

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  6. I think you have great observations! I like how you described Trond as being easily influenced because this is what I think got Trond into some trouble during his eventful past. I agree with Daria because Trond is kind and polite even when he would rather be doing something else(Like sleep)

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  7. I like that you said that Trond values time. He didn't hire a carpenter who could finish the work on his house much faster than he could because Trond has time. He enjoys taking his time to do things and to think and to just be. I think that this is a very unique trait in Trond because many people today don't believe they have enough time.

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  8. Stacy,
    You had very good observations about Trond's characteristics. That's an interesting point that he bases decisions on importance, like helping his neighbor over sleep. I also really agree with the part about Jon, Trond just does what he says.

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  9. I love that you mentioned how he got up to help his neighbor with the dog, even though it was the middle of the night. I love that this whole story was set off by his small act of getting up one night. This reminded me of a different book I was reading about how little things make a big difference; like deciding whether or not to go to a restaurant at a certain time can change your life [if you meet the man/woman of your dreams, or there's an accident on the way there, or something bad happens to your apartment/house while you're out]. I can't wait to see what Trond's little act of deciding to get up that one night does for his life.

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