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Symbols
Snowstorms symbolize the inevitable external forces the narrator’s family must overcome in order to survive. Ultimately, this inevitability highlights the lack of control that people have over their circumstances. In the first sentence of the story, the narrator remarks that “there seemed to be never a childbirth, or burst appendix, or any other drastic physical event that did not occur simultaneously with a snowstorm.” Whether or not this perceived overlap is accurate, the feeling of distress and powerlessness it evokes cements the connection between personal emergencies and external forces. It is significant that, as a result of the snow covering the family’s car, the narrator and her family must borrow a horse and buggy to go to the doctor. This fact suggests that modern technologies can’t always rescue the narrator and her family in the face of emergencies like a snowstorm or appendicitis. Thus, the snowstorm at the very beginning of the story highlights humans’ limited control in the face of disaster.
Snowstorms Quotes in Night
The Night quotes below all refer to the symbol of Snowstorms. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Night
Quotes
When I was young, there seemed to be never a childbirth, or a burst appendix, or any other drastic physical event that did not occur simultaneously with a snowstorm.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Snowstorms Symbol Timeline in Night
The timeline below shows where the symbol Snowstorms appears in Night. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Night
The narrator reflects that all medical events in her childhood seemed to occur during a snowstorm. She recalls one specific incident of getting appendicitis at 11 p.m. during a blizzard and...
(full context)
