Not just the Eskimos: analysis on memory and snowEvery child has been conditioned to dream of a white Christmas, but a big one percentage of the world's population has never done so. seen snow. For some people from different parts of the world, they have never experienced snow - how the sun reflects off the snow, how it sounds when the first shoe print breaks the perfect layer of snow - but the images and descriptions of snow taken from literature and the media translate these deeper representations. The memory of snow, even if it is not experienced directly, remains a memory with which we identify. “Not Only the Eskimos” by Lisel Mueller explores the universal themes of peaceful rebirth, inevitable death, and the celebration of life through the concept of memories with snow imagery. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay The term “snow white” associates the symbol of snow with rebirth and purity. On page 219, Mueller refers to "the snow in which Elinor Wylie walked / with velvet shoes." Elinor Wylie's poem, "Velvet Shoes," offers the imagery of peace and awakening to a new experience with the addition of a blanket of fresh snow: "Let us walk in the white snow / in a silent space / With calm and slow steps, / At a leisurely pace, / Under veils of white lace. White continues to be a theme merging the idea of ​​purity and peace in the final stanza of Mueller's work: "snow as an idea of ​​whiteness / as in snowdrop, snow goose, ball bush snow, the snow that puts stars in your hair / and your hair, which turned into snow” (218-219). The delicate description of white objects related to snow transitions to the delicate image of snow falling on the audience's heads with the image of stars. If the white of snow signals these calls for rebirth, the ability to produce snow must be accompanied by the cold and decay of winter. The sleepy silence of winter snow can be a sign of danger that prevents injury or death. On page 217, Mueller alludes to the death and danger associated with lack of visibility in the Dakota snow: "the surreal snow in the Dakotas / when you can't find your house, your street, / even if you don't you're not in a dream / or a science fiction movie. The danger of snow and the fear one feels when one's home is dark are equated with the idea of ​​death and, more literally, loss. Whether the reader remembers this image through personal experience or from cinematic dramatizations, the memory of this danger is felt empathetically and universally. Mueller further explores the concept of death by mentioning "the snow in Joyce's 'The Dead'" on page 218. James Joyce's short story about lost love is linked to the danger of loss: "His soul slowly faded away when he heard the snow falling faintly. through the universe and falling weakly, like the descent of their final end, on all the living and the dead. Joyce leaves the audience with this final sentence which contrasts the physically dead outside during the harsh winter with the figuratively dead in relationships of the past. Mueller uses this literary work to connect the loss of life to the contrary aspects of his work: the commemoration of life itself. The contrast between rebirth and death finds its balance in the celebration of life. Mueller evokes this idea of ​​celebrating life through a familiar image of an elementary school approaching,.