Short Fiction · Chapter
The Snow Man explained
The narrator, snowbound at the Bay Horse Ranch with Ross Curtis, reflects on the transformative and often maddening effects of snow.
What happens
The narrator, snowbound at the Bay Horse Ranch with Ross Curtis, reflects on the transformative and often maddening effects of snow. A stranded opera singer turned palmist, Etienne Girod, stumbles in, and tensions rise as the cook, George, takes decisive action to protect a young woman from the deteriorating situation, ultimately riding off with her to safety.
Themes in this chapter
Humor and Irony
The narrator's wry observations about the snow's effects and the cook's deadpan demeanor provide a humorous contrast to the grim setting.
Ambition and Failure
Etienne Girod's failed career as an opera singer and palmist exemplifies the theme of ambition thwarted by circumstance.
Social Class and Wealth
The cook's lowly position contrasts with his decisive authority, and the narrator's initial dismissal of him as a 'petty chef' highlights class assumptions.
Characters to notice
- Unknown Narrator
The first-person narrator who seeks shelter at the Bay Horse Ranch and observes the events.
- The Captain
Ross Curtis, the host of the Bay Horse Ranch, who becomes increasingly erratic under the snow's influence.
- The Colonel
George, the camp cook, who remains level-headed and ultimately takes charge to protect the young woman.
- Young Murray
Etienne Girod, a stranded opera singer and palmist who stumbles into the ranch during the snowstorm.
Key passages
“The man who can stand the test is a Snow Man; and this is his reading by Fahrenheit, Reaumur, or Moses’s carven tablets of stone.”
A person who endures the snow's trials is a true 'Snow Man,' measured by any scale—scientific or biblical.
The narrator sets up the snow as a crucible for character.
“In the waste places the snow is sardonic. Sponging out the world of the outliers, it gives no foothold on another sphere in return.”
In remote areas, the snow is cruel, erasing the familiar world without offering any new ground.
The narrator contrasts the snow's beauty in cities with its harshness in the wilderness.
“When it corrals man in lonely ranches, mountain cabins, and forest huts, the snow makes apes and tigers of the hardiest.”
When snow traps people in isolated places, it turns even the strongest into wild, irrational beings.
The narrator describes the snow's psychological effects on those confined by it.