Snow By Yolanda Alvarez Summary

The short story “Snow” is set in New York City in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The main character, Yolanda, must try and adapt to her new life and the American culture that she is not yet familiar with. She lives in a new apartment, in a new town, and attends a new school. She tries to familiarize herself with her surroundings and the people. The people, however fear for their lives as they live in distress of a potential bomb strike directed towards them. Yolanda learns enough English to understand what is happening but must depend on the people around her to fully grasp the situation. Alvarez argues that although each of us is different, we can still come together as one, to help one another, especially in times of need. In the

first section, we see how Yolanda adjusts to her first year in New York with the help of Sister Zoe; in section two we see how fear dictates the behavior of the people; and in section three we see how two people behave with only their own understandings and the possibility of learning from someone who is different than you.

At the start of the story, Alvarez describes Yolanda’s first year in New York and her new experiences.

Her family has just moved to an apartment in the city where she attends a Catholic school nearby taught by the Sisters of Charity. The sisters are dressed in black clothing that, to Yolanda, make them appear, “peculiar, like dolls in mourning.” (Alvarez, 83.) Although Yolanda likes all of the sisters, she is particularly fond of her teacher, Sister Zoe, whom she refers to as, “grandmotherly.” (Alvarez, 83.) Sister Zoe compliments Yolanda when she tells her what a lovely name she has and even has her teach the other students how to pronounce it. Being the only immigrant in her class makes her quite different than the other students. She is designated a seat, separate from them, in order to learn without causing a distraction. Sister Zoe gives Yolanda extra attention and teaches her words such as: “laundromat, cornflakes, subway, snow” (83); words that one may consider knowing when moving to a place such as New York. Sister Zoe helps make Yolanda’s transition a little easier but as the story continues Alvarez exhibits how the scare of the Cuban Missile Crisis effects her learning and understanding of her new

home.
In the second section of the story, Alvarez shows how the people react and prepare for the possible great destruction to come.

Sister Zoe explains to the classroom of fourth graders what is going on in Cuba and how their home was a possible target for a Russian missile strike. The town worries as President Kennedy explains the possibility of going to war against the Communists. At home, Yolanda and her family say prays for world peace. At school, she practices air-raid drills and is taught new words to better understand her circumstances; words such as: “nuclear bomb, radioactive fallout, bomb shelter” (83). Words that only someone who lives within the borders of destruction would be concerned with knowing. Sister Zoe explains to the curious students how the bomb attack would happen. She goes on to draw a picture of a mushroom on the board and a flurry of chalk marks; the mushroom representing the bomb and the flurries representing the dusty fallout. Those little chalk marks would be the death of them

all.
In the final section of the story, comprised of the last three paragraphs, Alvarez portrays how different Yolanda and Sister Zoe respond to the same crisis. Months go by and the season changes. it is now December and it is dark and cold out. When Yolanda looks outside the window she sees a few white flurries similar to the ones Sister Zoe had drawn on the board; they continue to accumulate and she makes the assumption that a bomb has just gone off. Yolanda screams to the class, “Bomb Bomb!” (Alvarez, 83.) Sister Zoe, afraid, runs to Yolanda’s side to catch a glimpse of this “bomb.” The relief is evident when Sister Zoe looks out the window to see the white flurries that she knows to be snow. She explains to Yolanda, who has never seen snow, that that is what she is looking at. Yolanda who at first is terrified is now excited because she has never seen snow before, she has only heard of it. Sister Zoe goes on to make the comparison of people to snow and that they are both “irreplaceable and beautiful.” (Alvarez, 83.)
In conclusion, Alvarez argues that our differences can be what brings us together. There may come a time when you do not know something and you must depend on someone other than yourself for answers. Alvarez shows this through Yolanda’s experiences of being an immigrant in a new place and how the people around her help her understand.