Some discussion questions to consider as you read The Snow Child:
Discussion Questions
1. When Mabel
first arrives in Alaska, it seems a bleak and lonely place to her. Does
her sense of the land change over time? If so, how?
2. Why are
Jack and Mabel emotionally estranged from each other in the beginning of
the novel, and how are they able to overcome that?
3. How do Esther Benson and Mabel differ in temperament, and how does their friendship change Mabel?
4. The first time Garrett sees Faina in person is when he spies her killing a wild swan. What is the significance of this scene?
5. In what ways does Faina represent the Alaska wilderness?
6. Jack and Mabel?s only child is stillborn. How does this affect Mabel?s relationship with Faina?
7. When Jack is injured, Esther and Garret move to their farm to help them. How does this alter Jack and Mabel?s relationship?
8.
Much of Jack and Mabel?s sorrow comes from not having a family of their
own, and yet they leave their extended family behind to move to Alaska.
By the end of the novel, has their sense of family changed? Who would
they consider a part of their family?
9. Death comes in many forms in The Snow Child,
including Mabel giving birth to a stillborn infant, Jack shooting a
moose, Faina slaying a swan, the fox killing a wild bird, Jack and Mabel
slaughtering their chickens, and Garrett shooting the fox. Why is this
one of the themes of the book and what is the author trying to say about
death?
10. What do you believe happened to Faina in the end? Who was she?
(Questions issued by publisher.)
Kayli Zeluff:
ReplyDelete1. Yes because in the beginning of the novel she doesn't think the land will be enough to keep her and Jack alive however as the novel goes on she begins to realize the potential in the land and that it might actually be enough to allow them to survive.
2. They are far apart because things are still weird after the birth of their still-born child. They don't know how to act around each other anymore because they're afraid they're going to say something wrong that will upset one another. It changes after they build a child out of snow. They become closer and are able to connect on an emotion and physical level again.
3. Mabel is more of a city girl. She enjoys wearing dresses and reading literature where as Esther is more of a country girl. She wears men's overalls and enjoys working in the fields and hunting. As their friendship grows stronger Mabel begins to act more like Esther. She wants to help Jack with the land and she wants to be able to hunt with him in order to help support them.
4. Haven't gotten there yet.
5. She represents the Alaskan wilderness because she is wild herself. She is very similar to snow. She has the light hair and the blue eyes and she resembles the innocence and the grace of the snow. She also represents the wild because she can easily navigate through the trees and she does whatever it is that she wants to do.
6. Since Jack and Mabel's only child is stillborn, Faina is very important to Mabel. She acts as if the Snow Child is her own child and is just as worried about her as if she was her own child. She is extremely important to her because she represents the child she and Jack were never able to have themselves.
1.) Yes, her sense of the land changes. After Her and Jack built the Snow child she was her self again. Also Jack kindly but, forcefully pushed Mable out of her comfort zone, and that's when she met her new friend, Esther. When Mable wrote a letter to her sister she talked about the beautifully scenery that surrounded her and Jack.
ReplyDelete2.) Jack and Mable were emotionally estranged because they blame themselves for losing the baby and the connection they once had was lost until the snow storm. Mable wanted to live again and she asked Jack to join her. When they built the Snow Child together they were able to connect with each other.
3.) Esther and Mable are too, totally different people. Esther is more out-going and somewhat a tom-boy as on the other hand, Mable is more quite and shy. Also Mable eased her out of her comfort zone. Throughout the story Mabel and Esther becomes closer and closer.
5.) The way and which Faina represents the Alaskan wilderness is her outgoing life style. She's very nice to the animals and she's cold to the touch.
6.) I believe this effects her realtio0nship with Faina because Mable doesn't want to lose someone she loves. She's scared from Faina's life, while she's in the woods.
1) Her sense of the land doesn't really change over time, she just becomes happier as a person and so she's more inclined to look at the land more favorably. She makes a friend, the Snow Child appears, and she and Jack become closer. All of these things make her happier, and that happiness changes her outlook in general.
ReplyDelete2) Jack and Mabel are estranged in the beginning of the novel because they haven't really been able to communicate with each other about their stillborn child. Additionally, he's out in the fields all day, leaving her alone in the house since he wouldn't let her work with him, so they just hadn't really talked at all for a while.
3) Esther and Mabel differ in temperament because Esther is rougher and more used to homestead life, whereas Mabel is more culturally refined and quiet. Gradually, their friendship changes because Mabel admires Esther and her pluckiness, while Esther grows affectionate for Mabel's more quiet traits.
4) The significance of this scene is that right from the start, Garrett sees this girl and knows that she is wild. Here is this fairly dainty-looking girl, and she's killing a creature which is regarded as beautiful. It's symbolic for her lack of innocence.
5) Faina represents the Alaskan wilderness because she's beautiful and seems to be just a little girl, but in reality she's wild and mysterious. She can't be tamed, and she refuses to let people try. She goes where she wants and no one can really hold her down, which is a reflection of how the settlers of Alaska may be farming the land, but they can't tame it.
6) Mabel's relationship with Faina is affected by Mabel's stillborn child because Faina becomes sort of a replacement child for her. She focuses all of the hidden affections that she harbored over the years on Faina, because Faina fills the gap that was created when her baby died. Mabel is always wanting to keep Faina with her as her full-time child, but Faina won't have it. So, Mabel resigns herself to the fact that Faina will never be her real daughter, but it's not really what she wants.
1. Mabel's view of Alaska changes over time from when she first arrives thinking it is a lonely place and she is intimidated by it, but eventually she sees the land as a resource and begins to appreciate the land more.
ReplyDelete2. They are emotionally estranged from each other in the beginning of the novel because their baby died, which is why they moved to Alaska, to get away from everyone and to get away from the memory of it. They overcome this by building a child out of snow and this is how they reconnect. Then, a real child comes along and they begin to grow fond of her, and they begin to take care of her.
3. Esther is far more outgoing than Mabel, partly because she has lived in Alaska for a longer time and is more adapted. She also hunts and drinks alcohol, which Mabel doesn't do much. Mabel also doesn't hunt, or like to leave the house and go into the Alaskan wilderness.
5. Faina is represents the Alaskan wilderness because she is invariable and she is very wild, and somewhat unpredictable, like Alaska's climate and geography. Also, Faina comes and goes with seasons, comes with winter and leaves with spring, much like the precipitation they get in Alaska called snow.
6. Mabel longs for a child because her baby is stillborn and therefore is very fond Faina and is scared to death of losing Faina. Because of this, she tries to control Faina so she doesn't lose her like she lost her first child.
Gena Driscoll
ReplyDelete1. Mabel's feelings regarding the land do change over time. Upon first arrival, her loneliness causes her to view the land as stark and threatening. Mabel describes the bleak icy river, "Only bottomless black, as if the night sky were under her boots," (8). Later she becomes appreciative of the land, when she befriends an otter. She describes the effect her connection with the otter had "Eight years she'd lived here, and at last the land had taken hold of her, and she could comprehend some small part of Faina's wildness" (270).
2. They are emotionally estranged because of the loss of their child, which they have never gotten over. They each still long for a child and this causes some tension. When they create a snowman in a playful haze, they overcome this tension. When they meet Faina, this estrangement is truly overcome.
3. Esther is more adventurous than Mabel. Mabel is more diffident and behaves in the more conventional role of a woman, while Esther does things like wear overalls and shoot bears and drink alcohol and talk loudly. While Mabel is initially wary of Esther, they become good friends. When Jack is injured, Mabel truly comes out of her shell, beginning to work in the fields and take on more responsibility on the farm.
5. Faina is wild and fleeting, like all things they deal with in Alaska. Nothing stays the same for long in Alaska. Faina comes with the winter and leaves with the spring, like the Alaskan snow. And she can hold a snowflake in her hand without it melting.
6. Because of her longing for a child, Mabel is terrified of losing Faina. She fears that she will lose Faina, like she lost her first child. This causes Mabel to try and control Faina's actions. She tries to make Faina live with them and go to school, but eventually she accepts Faina's wildness.
1. Even though Mabel is not satisfied with Alaska when she first arrives, I believe she grows to love it over time, or at least is content with her surroundings when she goes to meet Ester.
ReplyDelete2. Jack and Mabel are emotionally estranged because when they lost their child, Mabel fell into a depression. She told Jack multiple times that she just wanted quiet and to be away from people for a while. Jack gave her what she wanted. They overcame it when they moved to Alaska and Jack introduced her to Ester and they created the snow child. These things gave them something to hold on to and love and cherish.
3. Ester is is more adapted to the homestead life and is more hands on. When Mabel is more calm and more of a city girl.
5. Faina represents the wilderness because she hunts and becomes friends with a fox.
6. Mabel becomes stern and more protective. She worries about the snow child when she goes out. her motherly instincts kick in.
1) Yes her sense of land change overtime especially when the snow child arrives and when she gets to know the Bensons. When she went to the bensons house it really took her out of her comfort zone. The exchanges she has with other people most definitely changed her because she always want to be by herself, she is a loner.
ReplyDelete2)Jack and mabel are emotionally estranged from each other because of the death of their baby. The death of their child had a strong effect on them because they really wanted a child. The move to Alaska was a big change for them and it was more of mabel running away from the situation that got them to where they are today. They left their family behind to move down to Alaska for a more quiet peaceful life. When they had that snow fight and built the snow child that kind of brought them closer to one another.
3)Ester Benson is more hands on and knows everyone in town but Mabel sticks more to herself and doesn't talk much to people. When Mabel and Jack move to Alaska they made an agreement to not become involved with the towns people and keep to themselves.Ester benson wrestle bears but Mabel wouldn't do that, she is a more of a stay at home person.
5)Faina represents the Alaska wilderness because she hunts and she becomes friends with a fox. When she comes into Jack and Mabel house you have to leave the door open half way for her to get the coldness. She not used to warmth, she is used to the cold.
6) Mabel was more of a loner. She didn't really want to get to know anyone in Alaska she just wanted to stick to herself. The lost of their only child really hurt her. It was mabel idea to go to Alaska and she was just running away from the death of her only child. Mabel's relationship with Faina she is more concerned and she questions Faina when her first encounter comes into the house. She actually says she loves Faina in one of the chapters. She worries about Faina when she be out in the winter.
1) Yes, because she gets to like it after time. Further in the book, she doesn't think the land is as much as a hassle as she thought it would be. She begins to grow a custom to it.
ReplyDelete2) There's so much tention between them because Mabel can't have children. They tried once, but their child was stillborn. They both feel a sense of guilt as to how and why this happened. Thus causing them to naturally pull apart from each other and become distat.
3) Esther varies from Mabel immensely. Esther is more, "back-doorsy"©, and strong, she can hold her own. She man handles deer, for crying out loud. Mabel can't even stomach the sight of a dead deer. Esther is more than familiar with the Alaskan setting.
5) Faina represent the Alaskan wilderness because she she's wild in a sense. She roams around the woods by herself. She's friends with a fox, and can catch wild rabbits. She's more than a custom to the cold weather. She. Is. Wild.
6) The fact that Mabel had a stillborn child, draws her into Faina. She feels compelled to her; she wants to mother her. But she also feels a bit of caution. She doesn't want to loose her "child" again. Mabel wants faina so bad, but she keeps her at a bit of a distance so she wont get hurt.
1. I think Mabel begins to get comfortable in this "bleak and lonely" place of Alaska when she develops a relationship with Faina and she picks up her sketchpad because they keep her occupied from being so stressed and depressed.
ReplyDelete2.In the beginning of the book Mabel and Jack are emotionally estranged from each other because of their still born.They both feel responsible for the death of their baby. As Faina and Mabel and Jack develop a relationship they become closer and feel more like a mom and a dad.
3. Esther differed from Mabel in that she was more rough than Mabel and more adapted to the wilderness. And their friendship changes Mabel because poop.
5. Faina represents the Alaska Wilderness in a way that she is the Wilderness? She knows how to navigate through as it, she knows how to survive the rough and rigid terrain.
6. Jack and Mabel's only child being a still born affects Mabels relationship with Faina because Mabel treats her as if Faina was her own. In chapter fourteen Mabel talks about how she day dreamed about "...inviting Esther over for tea to show off the girl as if she were her own."and how she just wanted to dress her up and etc.
1. As time advances Mabel becomes more comfortable in Alaska, this is due in part to her blossoming friendship with Esther. When first arrived, Alaska was very different from her home back in Pennsylvania with Jack and their farm. As she describes in the book, farming in Pennsylvania was far easier than Alaska because of the the stark weather difference. However, as Mabel becomes more used to the weather and her relationships with Jack, Faina, and the Bensons grow, she sense of this vast landscapes changes and it becomes her home.
ReplyDelete2. Jack and Mabel's relationship is so strained because of the trauma they both suffered after the still-born death of their child. As Mabel reveals later in the novel, she and Jack were having such big problems because after she lost the baby she needed him to support her and he was not there. She relives this pain when jack fails to support her claims about the mystical girl that lives in the forest. BY letting Esther and George believe she was crazy, Mabel begins to feel the same pain she felt when Jack failed to support her after they'd lost their baby. However, after Faina entered their lives however this changed because she was their metaphorical child, uniting them in a way they never thought could be possible.
3. Esther is a light in Mabel's life. At first Mabel was aprhenensive to Esther's high-spirited cluttered life. But after dining with her in her home, she came to realize what a joy she was to have around. This is probably because Esther had a sense of adventure and out-outspokenness that Mabel never had because of her rich upbringing. Unlike Mabel, Esther is not afraid of begin her loud self around her husband, wears overalls, and shoots guns like a man. Mabel admires Esther for her fearless personality and soon becomes very close with her. After a while this admiration morphs into imitation and Mabel begins to speak out during dinners and not care about having a cluttered home. Although she doesn't completely change, She changes for the better in that she isn't so lonely and depressed.
4. The placement in this scene is rather ironic because it was placed after Garret had shot Faina's fox disillusioned with Jack's tales about a mythical girl who lives in the forest. As Garret was suffering about having betrayed Mabel and Jack, he discovered that Faina was real and also was made aware of how wild Faina truly was. As he watched her savagely capture and kill a fox she trapped, his fascination with her commenced and as he explained in the book she occupied all of his thoughts until he saw her again.
5.There are some elements of Ivey's writing that suggest Faina represents the Alaskan wilderness. Throughout the novel she hints at Faina being a part of mother nature or being one with nature such as the moments when she experiences high emotion, it snows violently. This is depicted after Faina discovers Garret in the forest and he refuses the wolverine he has been searching for endlessly. She becomes very angry and as Garret flees the scene he loses his way. Faina suggests this was her doing as she leads him away from his demise saying "I didn't mean for you to lose your way". Also, her physical attributes can be representative of the Alaskan wilderness, the way she loves the cold and how snowflakes mysteriously keep their form on her hands or face. The wild nature about her can be attributed to the vast Alaskan wilderness the way even Garret, who marries her never really figures her out. This is just like Alaskan, even someone as experienced in the woods as Garret can lose their way because of its never ending landscape.
6. Because Mabel never had a child of her own, she feels Faina is a second chance for her. Early in the novel she reveals how she believe it is her own fault that the baby died. Saying she felt the baby sensed she had bad feelings towards it and died. Due to this, Mabel believes if she only sends positive energy toward Faina, she will proper and understand how much she cares about her. She adapts this motherly figure over Faina, taking care of her both physically (by making jackets and feeding her) and mentally by providing a place she can call home where there are people who love her.
ReplyDelete7. After Jack is injured in the accident with the horse, he is bedridden with excruciating pain in his back. This is a catalyst for Mabel's major personality change. Mabel senses how she must begin taking steps toward becoming a stronger woman. Sensing his vulnerability she hops on the horse and valiantly rides into town in search of a doctor. After not being able to find one she inform Jack and the Bensons about their plan to give up and move back to Pennsylvania. When Esther wont allow this and moves herself and Garret in with them. Mabel experiences a new sense of living by helping with the farm work, coming to the realization of the reason her and Jack moved to Alaska in the first place. As Mabel takes up work with Garret and Esther Jack realizes how strong and important Mabel is to their relationship. He values her commitment to him especially in his lowest hour when he was begging her to leave him. When Mabel stayed with him, he recognized her strength and loved her even more for it.
8. By the end of the novel Mabel and Jack sense of family has completely grown. As the novel opened with just the two of them it expands as more important events occur. As Faina enters their life she becomes like a child to them, when she falls in love with Garret and marries him he also becomes like a son to them. With their marriage Esther and George are added as well to be their in-laws. Their relationship is strengthened as they once were friends, now they are made more close by the marriage of their children. Counting the child conceived by Garret and Faina, Mabel and Jack gain children and even grandchildren by the end of the novel, much more family than they started with in the beginning.
9. In the novel, the death experienced in the novel w]always came with an undertone of rebirth or usefulness. When Mabel gives birth to a stillborn baby, later she receives another child in Faina. When Jack shoots the moose, him and Mabel realize from this miracle that they will make it through the Alaskan winter and do not have to abandon their homesteading dream. When Faina kills the swan and surprisingly keeps the swans feathers, she later using it to make an amazingly beautiful wedding dress, incorporating the feathers on the front and back of the dress. When Jack and Mabel have to kill their chickens they are relieved when Esther brings one of her own hens to repopulate their chickens. After Garret shoots Faina's fox, he repays her by bringing her a puppy that would be a perfect companion because of its love for snow. Ivey's message about life and death can be interpreted a few different ways. I choose to believe she is trying to demonstrate that death is not always a bad thing because of the good things that can come of it after.
10. Faina's life had an obscure ending because she just disappeared under a blanket in the snow without any footprints leading away or anything evidence of a death. Her death was just a mysterious as her entrance into the lives of Jack and Mabel. In the end, after she had succesfull delivered her baby, she was gone. Its not clear whether she died or just left but she was no longer there with Jack and Mabel. Faina truly was the snow child talked about in the "Snegurochka" story. She was "created" by Jack and Mabel in the snow that night and died a mysterious death. Although her back story was evident that her father drunk himself to death and her mother died when she was young, Jack and Mabel chose to believe that she was their child, the one they created in the snow on that wintery night.
ReplyDelete(Had to post in segments because of character limit)
Nikki Ehmann
ReplyDelete1. Mabel’s perception of the land seems to change along with her and Jack’s relationship. As they grow progressively closer again, she begins to see Alaska as a much more beautiful place. The snow child also influences this change of heart.
2. In the beginning of the novel, the reason for the rift between Jack and Mabel stems from the child they lost. They both feel like they failed each other and have lost the sparks from their youth. They begin to get past this with the arrival of the snow child, most specifically the night of their snowball fight and the initial construction of the snow child.
3. Esther represents Mabel’s foil, as they are very opposite from each other. Mabel is a subdued city girl who’s the daughter of a literature professor, while Esther is completely accustomed to life in the harsh Alaskan wilderness, with multiple sons and a bit of a tomboyish side. Through Mabel’s exposure to Esther, she learns that she has more freedom in her actions and demeanor than she had grown up to learn, and is strengthened by this.
5. Faina is every bit the embodiment of the Alaskan wilderness. She is wild and unpredictable, and every in her physical features seems to capture the nature of their harsh surroundings.
6. Because Mabel has already lost one child, she does not want to lose another and becomes incredibly protective of Faina. She treats the snow child as her own, and wants to keep her safe in their little cabin than let her run rampant out in the wilderness. Mabel develops an obsession.
1. When Mabel first arrived to Alaska her first perspective about the land was that she was always going to feel lonely and a sense of an "empty" feeling. Her feelings toward the land changed over time, when she realized and began to embrace the positive use of the land.
ReplyDelete2. Jack and Mabel are emotionally estranged from each other in the beginning of the book due to the loss of their "still born" child. After the loss of their child, they also loss the strong affectionate connection they had as a couple. Both of them seem to have still felt a sense of "guilt" for the loss of the new life that was suppose to bring them happiness.
3. Esther and Mabel differ from each other because Esther is home raised and a hard working country girl. While on the other hand Mabel is a hard working house wife, whom was born and raised as a city girl in Pennsylvania. Their friendship changed over time, when Mabel decided that she wanted to help Jack out in the fields after his injury. Esther took out her helping hand to Mabel and taught her everything she needed to know.
5. Faina represents the wilderness of Alaska by the cold appearance of snow that carves her child like features. But beneath the cold snow, holds the warmth love of a child, just like the love the people of Alaska view their land.
6. With Jack and Mabel's still born child, it affects their relationship with Faina in many ways. With the couples past child, the couple love Faina in every way possible that they can. They found a strong love for the snow child, and do everything on their power not to lose another child. Also the snow child brought the couple back together and filled in the emptiness that they have been feeling for so long since the loss.