In the book "Snow" by Charles Baxter, the narrator Russel went to his brother Ben's room and Ben said they were going to see a car that had gone through the ice at Five Oaks Lake. Russel said his parents wouldn't let him, so his brother Ben lied to their parents and said they were going to Navarre's house. The parents were doubtful but they let them go anyway so they go to the lake, but before going to the lake they go to pick up Stephanie, Ben's girlfriend. In the story where Russel says “I want to feel cold, so cold that the cold itself becomes permanently interesting” I believe this statement symbolizes that he is in an awkward in-between phase where he leaves childhood behind but is not yet an “adult ”. This shows that he's in that awkward in-between stage because he feels like he's becoming a man and wants to understand why older boys are so fixated on feeling emotions, so when he sticks his arm in the snow it symbolizes that he's going through the transformation of becoming a man, but since he is still a child and not yet a man he immediately retreats to his warm and welcoming home at the first sign of discomfort he feels. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One example that shows him trying to understand the meaning of getting a thrill that all the older kids seek is when Stephanie says "Well, either they know or they don't. There's someone over there or not, right? " and Ben replied, “Maybe they don't know. Maybe there's a body in the back seat of that car. Or in the trunk.” After Stephanie responded, “Oh no,” and walked away. Ben then said, "I was just teasing you," Stephanie then replied, "Why did you lie to me?" and Ben said, “I just wanted to give you a thrill.” This part of the passage shows that he is trying to figure out what the purpose of a thrill is because when Stephanie had asked if anyone had been hurt Russell had said no because their father had previously told them that everyone had escaped from the car safely and safe but his brother had said "Maybe." which implies there is a dead body in the car. After admitting that he was joking that he just wanted to give her a thrill. This confused Russel as to why her brother had led her to believe there was a body in the car when they had already known the truth. Another time Russel tries to understand the meaning of a shiver is when his brother Russel was driving on the lake. and Russell thought, “He was getting a thrill and soon he would give Stephanie another thrill by carrying her home through ice that could break at any moment. Emotions did it, whatever it was. Emotions that led to other emotions. "This also really confused Russel because he couldn't understand why they would do something with such poor judgment and such obviously unintelligent things like doing 360s on ice in his car that they made him believe. It might just be "a powerful antidote against boredom." Finally, another moment in which Russel tries to understand the search for new emotions is when Stephanie asks her if she can get the attention of Russel's brother and he replies "take off your shoes", so she does. Then he asked, "How does it feel?" He said, "You'll know in a few years." This comment of his implies things that he will understand later in his adolescence, such as the desperation one feels during one-sided love, or the feeling of needing to find new thrills and having bad adolescent judgment But since Russel is still near the end of his childhood, this statement goes over his head.
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