Gregor As Gregor's Metamorphosis In The Snow Man, By Wallace Stevens

The perception of despair through the eyes of an existentialist is significantly different from that of an average person. The despair encountered every day can either be manageable or it can be crippling. Additionally, those who choose to dwell on the insignificance and the blandness of the daily human existence often finds they are stuck in a rut, never being good enough. More specifically, the way that characters like this manage this despair is important to character development, and eventually the plot, in literature. This critical choice everyone makes, on whether to fight through the despair or to just ignore it, is significant in highlighting his or her true character. The struggle of the protagonists in literature aids the plot through

For example, in the poem, “The Snow Man” by Wallace Stevens, the speaker of the poem has a different way to deal with despair then Gregor. In the poem, negative connotations about the winter season are presented within the first few lines such as, “…pine trees crusted with snow” (Stevens 1). When the reader imagines winter and a snowy landscape, the speaker acknowledges that many would feel cold and see rigid ice. But, the speaker suggests that “[o] ne must have a mind of winter” (Stevens 1), in order to understand the landscape. Although many view the winter landscape with despair, the speaker has become practically desensitized to it and no longer feels overwhelming sadness when near it. As previously mentioned, the way in which a protagonist chooses to understand the despair in their lives severely affects how the reader does as well. When the reader initially receives this text the audience is overwhelmed by negative connotations of the imagery of a winter landscape, which symbolizes death in literature. However, as the stanzas continue throughout the poem, the speaker acknowledges the beauty around them, and alerts the audience to their perspective on despair. The way in which speaker deals with the despair in their every day life is important because it can drastically change the plot of the