More Themes

Love

Politics

Selfishness

Patience

HappinessTheme

“If I’m happy, that’s all I care about.” (Ka)

“People who seek only happiness will never find it” (Blue, 379).

Having set beliefs are key to a person’s happiness, but putting your complete energy in only one cause can result in destroying one’s ultimate goals.


Posted by Caitlin Mitchell

Brace Map

Posted Caitlin Mitchell

Poetry in Snow

· Poetry has a significant role Snow
· Ka writes 19 poems during 3 day stay in Kars after having writer’s block
· Poems were often inspired by snowflakes
· “Each of his poems, too, had its natural and unique position on the imaginary snowflake”.
· “It was, in short, a snowflake that mapped out the spiritual course of every person who had ever lived” (407).
· Three axes onto which Ka mapped his poems- Memory, Imagination and Reason
· Thoughts about poems are attempts to try to puzzle out meaning of his own life (407).
· Poetry- way to express oneself
· To Ka- poetry ®understanding about yourself, others, human nature/existence, find happiness

Posted by Caitlin M

Ka Bubble Map

posted by Caitlin M

Poetry and Snow

Poetry is very important to the main character, Ka. It is his way of expressing himself, and helping him become more confident. He uses it to impress Ipek, and to say what is on his mind. Poetry is what Ka loves to do, and he finds inspiration to write more whenever he sees Ipek or sees the Snow. "Ka began to read the poem aloud again, this time with growing force, but he still stopped at all the same places to ask, 'Is it beautiful?' He also stopped at a few new places to say, 'It really is very beautiful, isn't it?'" (98). Ka knows that his poetry has a huge effect on women, and he uses it to his advantage.

Author

The author of Snow Orhan Pamuk grew up in Istanbul, Turkey. The book Snow takes place in Turkey. However, comparisons between Pamuk's life and Snow are very little. One of those comparisons is that in Snow Ka had been exiled and had moved to another country, Germany. Where as in Pamuk's real life he went to New York and taught at Columbia University. Because of the success of Snow and his other book My Name is Red, Pamuk received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006.








Olivia

Character Comparison

Ka is alot like Packers QB and all time passing yards, passing TDs, pass attemps, pass completion, and wins record holder Brett Favre.

Towards the end of Snow it looks as if Ka is going to come out on top when him and Ipek are boarding the train to Frankfurt. Unfortionetly for Ka, Hande and Blue get shot, which causes Ipek not to come to Frankfurt because shes believes that Ka turned Blue in.

In the 2007 NFL Playoffs, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers made it to the NFC Championship and only had to beat the 5th seeded Giants. After 2 missed field goals, and the ball on the first drive of overtime, Favre looked like he was going to lead to packers to victory. But, as he did in the 2003 divisional playoffs, he threw a crippling interception in overtime that Corey Webster returned to the Packers 37, which set up Lawernce Tynes for a 47 yard field goal.

Yet there are some major diffrences between the two situations as well. For starters, the Packers remain the youngest team in the NFL and have the most salary cap room. This gives Favre the second chance that Ka does not have since he can never go back to Kars due to his arrest warrant and his murder.

setting

The story takes place in Kars, a city in Turkey. It snows a lot there and the main character Ka loves the snow. He says the snow reminds him of God. Ka stays in a hotel, The Snow Hotel, when he is in Kars. Also, the coup that happens with the government happens at a hotel. There is a picture of a couple walking in the snow. Ka and Kadife were walking in the snow and this is where Ka wonders about his feelings for Ipek. There is a heart on the snowflake end because through out the novel Ka is always wondering about his feelings for Ipek or Kadife and his relationship with God. Lastly, there is a picture of people waving the Turkish flag because the reason Ka was in Kars was to research the suicides of the girls who wouldn't remove their head scarves. All of the pictures are surrounding a snowflake because Ka always related things back to the snow.

Olivia

Plot

Snow is narrated by the author, Orphan Park, who becomes part of the story in the end of the book when he explicitly states that Ka gets murdered in 4 years and when he goes to Kars a few years after the main events in the book.

Art and Snow

Art is seen in Snow not in the conventional sense, as in paintings, but rather preforming arts, mainly theater. The main example in the book is the traveling theater group, lead by Sunay Zaim, that comes to the city to incite a coup. Throughout the book a large focus is placed upon the two performances of the group. The reasoning for this is that Pamuk is trying to tell the reader that "the arts" are a vital part of society that should have a more prominent role in life today. Also Pamuk is trying to express the point that "the arts" are a powerful way of making political points and expressing ideas, hence the coup.

Religion in Snow

The topic of religion is found throughout the book Snow. The main character, Ka, is often asked whether he is an atheist because of his lack of involvement with religion. Necip and Fazil, young children in Kars, often interrogate Ka about his religious beliefs. "'Are you an atheist.' asked Fazil, with imploring eyes. 'And if you are an atheist, do you want to kill yourself'" (91). Ka, however says that the snow reminds him of God, and it creates peace for him. "What brings me close to God is the silence of snow" (65).

Religion also plays a role in the death of young women in Kars. They had been raised to keep themselves covered, and later when they were told to remove their scarves, they could not deal with the guilt. They thought suicide was the only answer. "'The three of us are in love with girls who have put everything at risk for the sake of their faith. The secular press calls them covered girls. For us they are simply Muslim girls, and what they do to defend their faith is what all Muslim girls must do'" (90).

Music Connection

Orhan Pamuk does not directly address the importance of music except for a few brief instances throughout the book. One of these instances is how he refers to a Turkish song he often hears in the tea houses which reminds him of his childhood. By placing these two things together Pamuk is trying to say that music is a trigger for memories. Also he is trying to say that music is vital to existence because it is always around us and a part of our lives. The other way which Pamuk expresses the importance of the fine arts is through the idea that the coup is instigated by a theater group. The deeper meaning behind this is that artistic expression is required for change to occur in life on a individual level and on a social level.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m0u-0X8sPe0
The song "Sitting Waiting Wishing" by Jack Johnson is a perfect example of a real life music example for Snow because the song reflects the aspirations that Ka has to be with Ipek.