Snowdrops

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We started today's lesson by looking at "On an Athlete Dying Young" by A. E. Houseman. This poem is a good way in to "Snowdrops" as it highlights the relative frailty of youth (which can seem so strong and beautiful) when compared with the omnipotent force of death.

We then read "Snowdrops" (download audio here: http://www.cooper.oxon.sch.uk/English%20WebPages/Front.htm). This is a story about an innocent, excitable, fanciful young boy who initially demonstrates many of the positive characteristics of youth which we have seen in other stories. He observes the minute details in life, has a vivid imagination and longs for the excitement of new experiences (such as eating a bacon sandwich). He also has a respect for his teacher, Miss Webster, which borders on hero worship. This is similar to the respect of the narrator for her uncle in "Superman" and clearly shows that he sees the adult world as something which can protect him from pain and hardship.

At the beginning of the story, we hear that Miss Webster has promised the boy that she will take his class to see the "Snowdrops" and he is very excited about this however, there is a great poignancy to the way he imagines them: "all he could imagine was one flake of the falling snow, bitterly frail and white, and nothing like a flower." Even from the outset therefore, Norris makes the reader aware that life is a fragile thing marked by pain (as represented by the word "bitterly").

By the end of the story, the boys illusions of the realities of life and the strength of the adult world are shattered as he witnesses Miss Webster breaking down at the funeral of the young man (with whom, the reader is lead to believe, she shares a romantic interest). The flowers which he had longed to see (his "Mecca", his "Jerusalem" ("Superman")) are described thus:
"The boy began to see their fragility. He saw them blow in a sudden gust of the cold March wind, shake, and straighten gallantly. He imagined them standing all night in the dark garden, holding bravely to their speck of whiteness." ll.194-7
There is sense of anti-climax about their fragility; The flowers have become a metaphor for the realities of a life that will always be marred by the inevitability of death and, as Miss Webster stands crying "in the midst of the frightened children", the boy realises that life can never be as exciting and carefree as he wants it to be.

There is, however, a positive message in the ending of this story, as represented by the words of the Welsh Hymn:
"So blessed are the ones through faith
That go about the living."
Here, the reader is able to take hope from the fact that those who are "blessed"- who find happiness and peace are those who "go about the living"; get on with their lives and do not dwell on the inevitable pain and suffering of death. Here the metaphor of the Snowdrops also returns to support this point- whilst they are delicate, frail and enjoy only a short life on earth, they are also painfully beautiful and have the tenacity to return year after year; whilst life will always end, it will also always continue.

I've drawn a few parallels with "Superman" here but a couple of quotations lend themselves very well to comparisons with other stories if the right question comes up:

1."the left boot to the right boot and the right boot to the left boot" l.71 COMPARE: "Your Shoes"
2."Gerald went whooping up the gravel yard like a released pigeon." l.74 COMPARE: "Flight". We also discussed, in relation to this, how the word "whooping" might betray the painful side to life: here it is an expression of youthful exuberance however, the word resonates with the name of a potentially fatal disease: whooping cough. Thus, despite his care-free excitement, Gerald himself might in fact be a metaphor for the human condition.