# The Snow Episode explained — American Indian Stories > Chapter companion for American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá. ## What happens The narrator and two other Dakota children, Thowin and Judéwin, are punished for playing in the snow after being forbidden to do so. A miscommunication leads to Thowin receiving a harsh spanking because Judéwin taught them to say 'no' as a response to the paleface woman's questions. Later, the narrator deliberately disobeys a rule and, while tasked with mashing turnips, vengefully breaks the jar, feeling a sense of rebellion and triumph. ## Themes in this chapter ### Education as a Tool of Oppression The boarding school enforces arbitrary rules and uses corporal punishment to suppress Dakota children's behavior and language, demonstrating how education was used to strip Indigenous identity. ### Resistance and Resilience The narrator's deliberate act of breaking the turnip jar is a small but powerful act of rebellion against the oppressive system, showing resilience in the face of punishment. ### Cultural Displacement and Assimilation The children's confusion with English and the paleface woman's commands highlights the forced displacement from their Dakota culture into an alien, punitive environment. ## Character check-ins ### Judéwin Acts as an interpreter and source of (mis)information for the other Dakota children, inadvertently causing Thowin's punishment. ### Thowin The first child called to judgment; she is spanked for following Judéwin's incorrect advice to say 'no'. ### Mother Not directly present in this chapter, but the narrator's mother is referenced implicitly through the narrator's identity as a Dakota child. ## Key lines > We were all still deaf to the English language, excepting Judéwin, who always heard such puzzling things. None of us understood English except Judéwin, and even she found it confusing. _Highlights the language barrier and Judéwin's role as a partial interpreter._ > Her words fell from her lips like crackling embers, and her inflection ran up like the small end of a switch. Her voice was harsh and sharp, rising in pitch like a thin switch being raised. _Vividly describes the intimidating tone of the paleface woman._ > I felt triumphant in my revenge, though deep within me I was a wee bit sorry to have broken the jar. I was proud of my act of rebellion, but I also felt a small pang of regret for breaking the jar. _Shows the narrator's conflicted feelings of defiance and guilt._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se/chapters/iii-the-snow-episode - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/american_indian_stories_se/chapters