Out Stealing Horses

Markers, borders, and crossroads begin to shape the younger Trond’s perception of events as he becomes more aware of the impact his father’s past has on his present; this awareness shapes his view of the adults around him. “Now I could see how he was impatient” (177), he says of his father’s desire to finish moving the timber downriver. Now, too, he can perceive the definite attraction between his father and Jon’s mother, something that makes its way into his unconscious mind even in the erotic dream he has as an adult. The interaction he describes between himself and the 10-year-old Lars also marks a change in his perception: “I looked at his hair and the little I could see of his face, he was only ten, for God’s sake, and nothing moved, and he had no more to say” (191). After Trond recognizes Lars is too guilt-stricken about his brother’s death to eat, he is infuriated when he sees Jon’s mother “so much at ease and almost smug” as she sits next to his father to eat (192). This marks a turning point in his feelings toward Jon’s mother and his trust of his father, whom he says breathes easily when Trond wakes in the night to watch him sleep, afraid he might disappear again.

Trond’s walk far into the woods with Lyra develops the theme of Finding a Sense of Place in Nature. His willingness to wade into the deep snow, which he has spent most of the novel dreading, further illustrates a turning point in his growing willingness to wade into the memories of events that have been troubling him. During his walk, his sudden recollection of the day his father returned at the end of the war marks one such event. Of the moment when he felt that he and his father had made a pact, he reflects, “I was twelve years old, and in the passing of one moment my life shifted from one point to another, from [my mother] to him, and took a new course. But maybe I was too eager” (202). This theme and Trond’s growing acceptance of the past are also expressed through his observation of the swans. The sudden imperative of discovering what the swans do in the winter marks Trond’s renewed interest in the world, which he has also eschewed throughout the novel.

Ellen’s arrival and Trond’s subsequent willingness to recall his three-day trek into the woods with his father mark the emotional climax of the novel, allowing him to reconcile the pain he has tried to “let sink” as his father taught him and the role it played in shaping his identity. His recollection that he traveled for most of Ellen’s childhood, disappearing from his daughters’ lives for such long periods that “both girls had grown each time [he] came home, […] and it made [him] confused, [he] recall[s], and uneasy at times” (206) marks a recognition that Ellen’s childhood experience was much the same as his; her identification with the opening lines of David Copperfield emphasizes their similarity of thought. Trond’s realization that his refusal to treat himself well, even denying himself a washing machine, illustrate his attempts to punish himself through privation. By contrast, his gladness that Ellen knows where he lives and his promise to get a telephone reveal his willingness to stop punishing himself and reopen communication with the outside world. The following chapter is the first time his memories of his father are unburdened by questions, instead marked by the joy of riding with “no-one chasing us now” (226) and a sense of accomplishment in showing off his skill at balancing on logs, where he takes pride in the things his father realizes he has learned to do “when [he wasn’t] looking” (234). The appearance of the titular phrase in this chapter, with Trond using it to tease his father, also signifies a bond; where the phrase previously had different meanings for both characters, now it represents their final trek into the woods, crossing borders both literal and figurative.