Discuss the Theme of Persuasion in the Short Story "The Shepherd's Horn"
Low Stakes Paper: The Shepherd’s Horn
In “The Shepherd’s Horn”, persuasion plays an essential role throughout the entire story. Persuasion can be an extremely powerful tool and through telling this story, Hansen illustrates just how significant it can be. “The Shepherd’s Horn” tells the story of a young couple, Ragnhild and Guttorm, who are prevented from having a relationship by Ragnhild’s protective father, Thord. Together, Ragnhild and Guttorm have a child out of wedlock, therefore forcing the couple to hide their relationship as well as their child from Ranghild’s mother and father in fear of disapproval. However, with the help of Caroline, the story’s narrator, the couple is finally reconciled with her parents because Caroline’s abilities to persuade are no match for Thord.
Caroline’s curiosity in the story is essential because without it, the story may not have had such a happy ending. His recognition of the sound from the mysterious horn in his dream is what ultimately leads him to learn about the story of Ragnhild and Guttorm and to his surprise, their child. Touched by their romantic story, Caroline was able to convince Ragnhild and Guttorm to have courage and tell her parents the truth about their relationship, as well as their child. This is where the first major instance of persuasion occurs in the story. Caroline’s influential approach was the first step in having the couple confess to Ragnhild’s mother and father the life that they had been hiding for many years. After he was able to convince them to lay “their fate in [his] hands”, they proceeded to find Thord. Ragnhild and Guttorm had been hiding this child for months, and their relationship for even longer, so the fact that Caroline was able to convince them with such ease to finally admit this story shows that Caroline is a very skillful persuader. However, rather than flat out telling Thord the truth, Caroline first went about telling him in a very clever manner. Caroline started
In “The Shepherd’s Horn”, persuasion plays an essential role throughout the entire story. Persuasion can be an extremely powerful tool and through telling this story, Hansen illustrates just how significant it can be. “The Shepherd’s Horn” tells the story of a young couple, Ragnhild and Guttorm, who are prevented from having a relationship by Ragnhild’s protective father, Thord. Together, Ragnhild and Guttorm have a child out of wedlock, therefore forcing the couple to hide their relationship as well as their child from Ranghild’s mother and father in fear of disapproval. However, with the help of Caroline, the story’s narrator, the couple is finally reconciled with her parents because Caroline’s abilities to persuade are no match for Thord.
Caroline’s curiosity in the story is essential because without it, the story may not have had such a happy ending. His recognition of the sound from the mysterious horn in his dream is what ultimately leads him to learn about the story of Ragnhild and Guttorm and to his surprise, their child. Touched by their romantic story, Caroline was able to convince Ragnhild and Guttorm to have courage and tell her parents the truth about their relationship, as well as their child. This is where the first major instance of persuasion occurs in the story. Caroline’s influential approach was the first step in having the couple confess to Ragnhild’s mother and father the life that they had been hiding for many years. After he was able to convince them to lay “their fate in [his] hands”, they proceeded to find Thord. Ragnhild and Guttorm had been hiding this child for months, and their relationship for even longer, so the fact that Caroline was able to convince them with such ease to finally admit this story shows that Caroline is a very skillful persuader. However, rather than flat out telling Thord the truth, Caroline first went about telling him in a very clever manner. Caroline started