Arne is a peasant with a strain of poetry in him; he is a dreamer of dreams and a maker of songs, but he is conditioned by his history and environment. He is first introduced as the "only child at the little farm among the hills," living with his grandmother and his mother, Margit, who "once stayed too long at a dancing party." This is the one of Bj rnson's realistic peasant novels, dealing with the difficulties faced by the poorest members of Norwegian society.