“Powder”
Tobias Wolff utilizes snow as a looking glass for the relationship between the narrators’ parents. The narrator recalls, “Then there was nothing but snow: snow on the road, snow kicking up from the chains, snow on the trees, snow in the sky, and our trail in the snow.” Evidently, the snow is omnipresent throughout the story, and it’s a determining factor on whether the narrator’s father will escalate the odds of being together with the narrator or not.
The narrator’s father submits to the Love instinct (Eros) when he contravenes the trooper and drives on a road that is concealed by snow. The instinct is so resilient that it shrinks the father’s awareness of risk that in inherent in the weather. The father is resolute to traverse the snow as he wants to astound his wife. The narrator observes, “Here and there I saw hints of the road, ditches, fences, stakes, though not so many that I could have found my own way. But then I didn’t have to. My father was driving. My father in his forty-eighth year, rumpled, kind, bankrupt of honor, flushed with certainty.” The driving is corresponding to an attempt to remedy the worsening situation with his wife. Arriving home in one piece, even though it is left out in the story, would be a turning point in the relationship that is at the brink of going down wholly. The narrator’s faith in his father is vital because it offers him the reassurance of coming out of the storm.
“The Night In Question”
“The Night in Question” is a compelling story due to the application of a non-linear framework; an allegory of Jesus Christ, psychological connotations and a frame narrative. Basically, Dr. Violet’s sermon, which Frank narrates to his sister, is an Allegory of Jesus Christ and it dominates the sermon relating to “The Night in Question”. The position that Mike finds himself in is akin to that of God who was obliged to detriment his son’s life to unshackle sin-stricken humanity.
The plot is non-linear for the reason that it shifts between Frank and Frances’ childhoods and the present (where Frank is evangelizing to Frances). In between the evangelization Frank recesses to mull over the necessity of continuing with the preaching. Similarly, Frances goes through a regression in the course of the preaching, whereby, she harks back to Frank’s helplessness during his childhood years. The sermon activates the regression, and it permits the reader to apprehend Frances proclivity for defending her brother. The narrator moves from the Frank and Frances’ present to the past all through the story. So, it is upon the reader to figure out the time shifts between the disjointed plot. The fragmented plot maps out the correlation between Frank and Frances’ past life and their current life.
Basically, the sermon relating to Mike and his son Benjamin is a Frame Narrative that occupies a substantial part of the plot. Psychoanalytically, The Frame Narrative is a form of sublimation that enables Frank to move his concentration from deleterious thoughts relating to his heartbreak. As an alternative of dwelling on the adversative implications of his disillusionment of love, Frank talks about the affection of God by recounting the allegory of Jesus’ love.
Frances declares her aversion for the sermon. For example, when Frank finishes telling her that Mike has confirmed that his son is in the engine room, Frances tells her, “"I don't want to hear this story." Her apprehension about the story’s ending can be understood based on the regressive episodes that Wolff includes in the story. Frances’ regression infers that she is unconsciously scared about having to choose other people over her brother. She is petrified that her brother would detriment her as well that is why she would not want to listen to the finish which would likely be Mike surrendering his son.
