The Meaningful Imagery "Powder"

1050 Words5 Pages
4/24/2013 ENGL 215 The Meaningful Imagery of “Powder” Living in the moment seems like an easy task; the present is all we really have, after all. But staying in the now and enjoying the moment are difficult for most of us to do. Many of us are constantly projecting into the future, reflecting on the past, and worrying about everything in between. The narrator of Tobias Wolff’s “Powder” is no different, but he ultimately learns to allow himself to relax and enjoy the present. “Powder” short story about an adolescent boy who is on a skiing trip with his father on Christmas Eve. Because his mother is unhappy with the father and on the verge of divorcing him, she is against the trip. The father, however, just wants to spend quality time with his son and promises to get him home in time for dinner. At the beginning of the story, the son, who is the narrator, is rigid and apprehensive about the trip and towards his father. When they start to head home, they find that the road is closed, and a state trooper is blocking the snow-covered path. The father comes up with a plan to get past the trooper and decides to drive through the closed road. The dangerous trip scares the narrator at first, but he begins to trust his father and learns to enjoy the moment. The imagery in the story, especially the snow, was significantly chosen by the author to represent the narrator’s change of attitude. By portraying different images of the snow, the author creates an emotional atmosphere that reflects the state of mind of the narrator as well as the relationship between the son and the father. At the beginning of the story, the narrator is cautious and tense. He is distrustful of his father, and their relationship seems strained from the conflict of the parents. While the boy’s father is boisterous and confident, he is also unpredictable and dangerous to the narrator. The imagery of the

More about The Meaningful Imagery "Powder"

Open Document