Wallace Steven's The Snow Man is an interesting case of reader seduction. As was demonstrated in the class, it's hard to tell what it's actually about: a snow man in the most literal sense of the word, made from piles of snow and with snow for brains as the poem alludes to. However, it could also be about a man (or indeed, woman) that is cold as snow and ice, and has adapted that way because he or she has gotten to the point where they believe that's the only way to live.
However, the seduction works much like it should in writing: it gets you to ask questions. You want to know more, but at the same time, it gets you thinking about things for yourself without actually getting more from the author. However, it seems to me that the poem is more Zen than pragmatic, especially near the end with the lines, “And, nothing himself, beholds/Nothing that is not there and nothing that is.” Pragmatism often puts emphasis on what is actually there in the real world, concrete ideas and not the abstract. However, this poem is implying that the observer, whether an actual snow man or someone who has become “cold,” is seeing none of that, which could be very close to what Zen and Buddhism considers enlightenment.
Personally I think this poem lacks reader seduction. When reading this in class, I wasn't pulled into what the poem was trying to reveal and withhold. Instead it seemed very basic and I have read other examples of poetry which was a better representation of "reader seduction". The whole idea of a snowman having an understanding of his/her external existence is not a mind experiment that stays within the bounds of both reason and reality. It has no consciousness, and even in the metaphorical sense, even if it did, I doubt that all it would be doing is staying in one place and existing subjectively and observing it's surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of putting this in terms of Buddhism. I think it really works well with the problem of whether this is about a literal snow man, or as you say a man or woman as cold as snow and ice. The ambiguity between those two possibilities makes me think of how a Buddhist koan uses contradictions. It gives the reader an unsolvable riddle which is meant to lead to a higher understanding that goes beyond the language and rationale. When the reader gives up the attempt to understand they reach something like a mind of winter.
ReplyDeleteIf the snowman is supposed to represent a man or woman then is is also possible that this person could melt (as a snowman could) and as a result could, with the seasons, change the way they are. For a snowman is nothing but snow, which is water in the more solid state. So could a person who is like a snowman change. It seems as if you are saying that people who are cold like snowmen cannot change the way they are because there is no turning back; however, in reality one could easily, through time, change who they are. Now, I am not saying that a puddle of water is any better but perhaps that puddle could ascend to a higher plan of existence (as through evaporation) in the sky.
ReplyDeleteI will agree that the example of a snowman can be difficult to interpret but if we look at the forms a snowman can take we find that we are not that different from snowmen ourselves. We have many stages and in the form of an evaporated snowman they can be reincarnated as rain, snow, sleet etc. (this of course will play off the Buddhism part which I admire).
Perhaps this enlightenment is only the evaporation that a literal snowman is waiting for (of course the snowman could melt and go into the ground; would we call that Hades)?
I think this poem could represent a different kind of seduction. Instead of arousing an open and inviting mindset in the reader, it seems to be more about frustration, about creating a kind of conflict between the reader and the poem. How is this seduction? Well, haven't you ever been so enraged or confused by something that you just HAD to figure out? Or maybe there was a person in your life that was so infuriating that you just wanted nothing more to push their own buttons and maybe get "ontop" of them for a change? Seduction doesn't have to be about slow processes and gentle enticement - it can be about anger and domination.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I am comparing the way this poem makes me feel to having angry sex.