Analysis Of Powder By Kasia Skorka

Kasia Skorka
“Powder” is a story about an adolescent boy and his father on a ski trip, whose relationship is not always apparent between the two. The standard role of the father and son has been reversed in this story. The adult in the relationship is not always who it expects to be; in this situation, the boy is more like a man, and the father is more like the boy. There is a reflection of a modern day “broken” home situation between the parents, who seem to be on the verge of a divorce. They story is told from a first-person perspective of the boy. This way we see the boy’s thoughts and feelings about his emotional position. The father has promised the mother that he will have the son back on time for Christmas Eve dinner. Keeping this promise is important for the father because he seems to want to prove himself to the mother.
As the father and son finally decide to leave the ski lodge, everything starts to go wrong, preventing them from being able to leave. The boy continuously worries about every little thing. He

comes off as having a controlling behavior, from numbering his hangers in his closet to asking his teachers for assignments ahead of time. The boy tries to plan everything out his life to show himself he has control over it, when the real issue he has is that he does not have control over his current family situation.
The parent’s unavoidable divorce is the central conflict the boy is dealing with in the story.

On top of the, his father seems to make things worse by making him late for dinner this evening and past actions of sneaking the boy into bars. His father is seen as irresponsible and immature. However, his father is determined to have his son home on time and make things right in the family. He goes against the law and makes a gutsy decision to choose to drive through the snowstorm roadblock. As the father and son are driving down the mountain covered in a newly fallen powder of snow, the boy is overwhelmed with worry with driving in these weather conditions. His father reassures him that he is safe and that he should trust him. This is the turning point of the story because the boy realizes that it is meaningless to worry. His father is fearless and enjoys this brief moment of thrill; the boy can choose to worry or he can choose to bond with his

father.
Although the boy realizes his father is the complete opposite of him, he begins to appreciate his father’s behavior to live in the moment. His father gives the boy a new outlook on life. The former uptight boy thought he father was too rebellious but now he looks up to him. He realized that he has sense of trust and connection to him. With his father’s advice, the boy has learns that one cannot have control over any given situation. The boy learns to relax and accept fate as it comes; releasing concerns will lead to worthwhile experiences. There is no point to dwell over errors and take things too seriously when you can sit back and enjoy the journey, as the boy declares at the end “If you haven’t driven fresh powder, you haven’t driven.”