Forget about American and European yearning for a white christmas that can relate snow to joy! Snow in Western literature is usually seen as a traditional symbol of death. It can mean something different, even more promising, to those who live in Gaza, but this is not the same to Iona in 'Misery' or the persona in 'Stopping by Woods'. Here, it is a signal of solitude and depression. Some people see snow as a shroud; what is used to cover a corpse. Look at the picture students of Gaza. Trees, which are usually seen as a symbol of life and growth, are but dead things covered with snow.
Anyhow, I came to like your comments, especially the debate about what snow should indicate, as well as the part about destiny. But I think you need to speculate on things again in the light of what has just been given. Is the man overburdened with life and its hardships? Is he thinking of . . . .?
I like this paragraph
ReplyDeleteFor long , snow - in the minds of human - was characterized as purity and chastity . The name possibly came from the color of pure and white snow, for example, the story of " snow white " that reflected the good girl . ALSO it can be a siganl for happiness . In Gaza , when snow drops , children become happy and keep looking at snow dropping through windows . At other cases , the snow is a symbol of the slow and cruel death, which was of course accompanied by snow and cold currents,freeze in the absence of the sun and a sharp fall of temperature. Here in both stories there was a strong connection between snow and loss , The end of life and sadness as in the tree shown above , where snows gives it the flavour of DEATH .
ReplyDelete2-Is the man overburdened with life and its hardships? Is he thinking of . . . .? Of course man is being overbudened with life and it's hardship . he is over thinking in the burdens of life , responsibilities he has to acheive and as our poet says - promises to keep - he is thinking of what will happen to him in his future . he is thinking can he achieve his speculations .
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I loved the picture alot. It took me back to my childhood. As I was born in Russia, this time of year is always the most preferable. Even though I haven't seen snow quite long time now, I still feel fond of little white flakes, wild snowy wind that slaps the cheecks, and the sound of your own foot steps once you step on the paths covered with snow; especially in parks where there's nothing but white-silvered trees and seats.
ReplyDeleteI agree that winter signifies death. As long as a dying person satrts feeling cold in the last few minutes before leaving this world, moreover his lips can be to some extent white. So all in all, winter is a suitable symbol for death.
Secondly, it's normal that every Man is overburdened with life and its hardships, as life isn't that very easy thing. Everyone has his own concerns regarding his destiny, or shall I say future. It's universal. One is doing his best in order to achieve his ambition; a goal of his life. However, it's random when it, ambition, comes that way that you wish it would. Here, it's the confronting moment with destiny, since Man hardly accepts what's ploted, for him, by Almighty God. Thus, one is to look for something unlternative, and it's usually unlikable. "But life doesn't go along with our temper." It entails great deal of patience to live a life, no matter where one lives; whether abroad, or in Gaza. Here, our common destiny, if not the only aim, is to fight... To fight for life, and this is already a true hardship ...
I never though that i would look at SNOW as a symbol of DEATH! it's kind of weird!! at least for me … but when I looked deeply to these two different stories I understood why would some people consider it as a symbol of sadness or even misery . anyway I can imagine how it would look like if snow actually drops in Gaza it would be more than just looking through the windows as my friend Alaa mentioned above .. I mean come on !! it's not that I'm trying to over imagine ..no ,but the thing is that as snow can be a symbol of death for some people ,it can also be a source of purity ,cleanliness ,hope and joy for others..specially for the children in Gaza .. it's just that simple !
ReplyDeleteThe man IS overburdened with life and it's hardships ,and i do agree with Karina i guess! that it's normal to be so . I mean who said that life is a happy journey with no risks or hardships !. we all have moments of despair and pressure and here comes the challenge ! just like our poet.. although he stopped for awhile thinking about his life journey , maybe reviewing every thing that he had been through ,he knows that he must move on because life is not waiting . A bout the destiny part there's only one thing to say that a man can't escape of his destiny or else (is he thinking of….?) …I shall say …
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Eman had mentioned above when she said ( but the thing is that as snow can be a symbol of death for some people ,it can also be a source of purity ,cleanliness ,hope and joy for others )
ReplyDeleteEveryone has his own way to look at things, Some may consider the snow as a thing related to death, others may see in snow the purity and hope.
In Stopping by woods on a snowy evening, the poet says that he has no reason to stop by the woods, he just stopped to see the beauty of the scene only. The scene of the snow is the only thing that makes him stop. Although we may feel an element of darkness that appears to tell that there's something wrong and everything is not okay...
I agree with all of you that we may consider snow in other cases as a symbol of joyful things. But here, I can't find any other interpretation as the general atmosphere of the poem reveals so…
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the psychological problems the persona has here are not just that he has difficulties in his life. But an accumulation of hardships without a proper solutions which makes him thinking of committing suicide.
Then, the snow here is a symbol of death, especially as we see in the picture when snow makes everything with no color and looks pale. Exactly as death makes the corpse so pale and cold…
And the feeling of serenity snow gives is also like what the persona imagines death would give him…
I agree with you Salma.. To make it clear, when I wrote my comment I didn't mean that snow here means a symbol of purity, I meant that some people may see it like that and others may not .. And for sure the snow here has nothing to do with joyful and purity as Salma mentioned above.
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ReplyDeleteThe poet expressed his satisfaction and acceptance to life ,when he said "lovely ,deep and dark" and his insistence to keep going to fulfill his promises " But I have promises to keep," in spite of the hardships of life waiting ahead ,he did not withdraw and successfully challenged the stress of life and enjoyed the time of snowing …
ReplyDeleteSnow means Love to many of us specially for people who don't see snow in their countries so we can't blame them if they likes snow & nothing convince them it could be a symbol of Death! For other people, Snow Means Death especially in Europe and America, Snow Paralyze people works, for us if it snow & none could be able to get out of home, we'll be happy! This is the difference in culture.
ReplyDeleteAs beautiful as snow is, it also signifies winter, associated with the death of the year (in the northern hemisphere at least), the death of crops, and the death of the sun. Snow also covers the world with a blanket of white, and in Eastern cultures, white is the color of death.
* first, Snow in Western literature is usually seen as a traditional symbol of death :may be they consider it " asymbol of adeath" signifies winter associated with the death of the year , death of crops, and the death of the sun. Snow also covers the world with a blanket of white,so they consider" white is the color of death."
ReplyDelete*In contrast, we consider Snow is a symbol of purity Because of its whiteness and freshness,cleanliness , hope , and all positive expressions which people accept ..
Finally , we can say , each societies have its own cultures, own thought which be acceptable to all..
I think that it is not true to consider that snow is asymbol of death but each community has own culture . and there are many differances between forign culture and our culture. people in Europe consider that snow is asymmbol of death but we consider it asymbol of purity and hope .And I feel so happy when I look at snow dropping through windows .
ReplyDelete2-Is the man overburdened with life and its hardships? Is he thinking of . . . .?
ReplyDeleteOf course the man overburdened with life and its hardships .
Because life is along journey and it is difficult .
every one has ambition and goals in his life so he must face alot of problems and responsibilities to acheive his ambition .
finally life will continue and we must live in good or bad aspects .
In Stopping by woods on a snowy evening, the poet says that he has no reason to stop by the woods, he just stopped to gaze and see the beauty of woods .The scene of the snow is the only thing that makes him stop not any thing else . he knows that he must move on because life is not waiting . and he has promises to keep.
The meaning of the words differ from one culture to another .for example" snow" ,when we hear it in our country ,it means to us the purity ,the happiness,the whiteness and all features of joyful which can has.I love snow because I did not see it before in my country.In contrast ,in western countries ,it considered as a symbol of death ,in their countries snow covered the world with a white cover as we covered the corpse with a shroud.The sun disappeared in ,so they felt with a negative feeling.So we can say that the words have many symbols,I think that refer to the nature of that country.
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeleteAt first,all person in this life has
ReplyDeleteits own views and in my point of view,snow is a traditional
symbol of death in Western literature because in winter snows which have frequently prevented them from going out to
work also,prevent children from gong out to play and entertainment and
thus kill thespirit of activity and vitality . On the other hand ,it
is used to cover acorpse . It also signifies winter associated
with the death of year, the death of crops and the death of
sun as Ms.A.Mahdy miontioned above .Nevertheless,Ibelive
that snow can also be a source of purity, cleanliness
,hope, peace,and joy specially for the children in Gaza
White is the color of purity. Brides wear white in many countries, because white symbolizes a virgin. White means kindness. In some cultures white is worn at funerals like Japan. Strictly speaking, white is not a color, but the manifestation of the presence of all color - the complete energy of light. It stands for wholeness and completion. In many cultures it represents openness and truth. White has a cold quality. It can provide clarity as its energy is complete.
ReplyDeleteWhite has purification vibrations and can be used to clear blocks from your path.
As to this wonderfull idea of life, imaging when white snow fall down in a constant way.
The proplem itself is that the snow in the poem is used to indicate death and bad luck. Most of the lines indicated the suicidal inclination coming from the auther.And then there's the symbolism.
As beautiful as snow is, it also signifies winter, associated with the death of the year (in the northern hemisphere at least), the death of crops, and the death of the sun. Snow also covers the world with a blanket of white, and in Eastern cultures, white is the color of death.
Whatever the reason, using snow is a great way to portray a character on the verge of dying or a place torn by war in a very artful manner.
At the outset I would like to comment
ReplyDeleteon the view of both my colleague NEDAA and Alaa's
, and in general I support the view of both of them in spite of some discrepancy between them.
Regarding the suspension of Alaa and considered that the ice to symbolize joy and pleasure, I fully agree with it, and at the same time I agree with the view of my colleague's Nedaa, which considered that the snow is already a symbol of death and the end.
And the question here is what I agree with the two contradictory views?
The answer is the nature of the environment and the geographical area where snow falls, we know that much snow in the polar regions and the European and the snow is falling heavily, and therefore have caused devastating effects in terms of displacement of people and the death of many of them and the destruction of property and therefore Writers and poets tend to consider the Western snow a symbol of sadness and death
While if he spoke English poet of the snow, he would pronounce a source of joy and pleasure, and because of the fall of snow in the Arabpnadr and a few people waiting, and therefore all the yearning and Iatbroh a source of joy, especially children, who quickly get out of their homes to play with snow and therefore According to my point of view, I do not agree that the Arab poet describes the ice as the source of the end and death on the contrary, while I agree that the writer describes the ice as a foreign source of grief and ultimately
This is my opinion.