Snow Imagery

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the use of imagery in literature, especially novels, is an effective tool, whereby a writer?s thoughts can be conveyed more efficiently than by only using simple description. The author points out that, in ?Snow Country? and ?The Dead,? there are three similarities in the way the authors used snow imagery: To describe vividly the settings, to set the mood for the gloomy and sad resolutions of the characters, and to serve as a ?memory? of their lost loves. The paper concludes that there is one difference: Kawabata uses snow imagery as a tool for characterizing Komako, while Joyce uses snow as a symbol for the impending deaths of Miss Kate and Julia and the death of his love for Gretta.

From the Paper:

"The use of snow implies coldness and darkness, which is compatible to the feelings that Shimamura and Komako felt when they met in "Snow Country." Shimamura's dissatisfaction with life and Komako's unfortunate life lead them to lead a gloomy life, intensified by the mood of the environment they are in (in the "snow country"). Meanwhile, snow imagery becomes effective in "The Dead" as an impending gloom and threat to Gabriel Conroy for his loved ones, particularly his aunts and his wife, Gretta. The snow that the characters of both stories experience and witness echo their inner feelings and thoughts about their life, which is generally gloomy and somewhat mysteriously still."

More papers on Snow Imagery:

• Analytical Essay # 9782 : "Snow Country" by Yasunari Kawabata"
• Analytical Essay # 5194 : "Snow Country"
• Analytical Essay # 149357 : "Symbolic Imagery in the Works of Ernest Hemingway"

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