I found many stories interesting in college.One that stood out to me was the short film the Envelopes starring Kevin Spacey. Is
employed in obvious snow globe which where the envelopes collected by the
character in the beginning of the story. The stamped envelops shed light on
everything from the characters traits to the twisted plot answer the overall theme.
His childhood hobby was developed. The
film used every envelope from that time in his life as snow globes to describe
the main character as a collector. The envelopes journeys around the world with
a different approach to showing on what the character was interested in.Another story involving envelopes
and letters, The Things They Carried,
gives a different view on the events of Vietnam in the eyes of 17 soldiers humping
thru a war zone while carrying items used for either survival or sentimental
possession.
Somewhat like the short film the Envelopes’ main character, this story follows a lieutenant who
passes his spare time pouring over letters from a woman named Martha. The
lieutenant would often kiss the letters which would suggest is affection for Martha
which makes it a very interesting snow globe for this character and for the
plot.
Later in the story he would blame his obsession with the letters for his
fellow soldiers sudden death. This development in the story would’ve made the
letters one of the more interesting Snow globes in the entire plot. Others were ammo, comic book, drugs, and
other thing that shed light on other soilders.
In the short film Strangers the two men riding the train
in the beginning both had visual elements that described them. The first man
siting on the train was reading a new paper published in Arabic. From this, a
reader could deduce he is either of Muslim faith or has been brought up in the Arabic
society. The second man that boards the train is wearing a silver chain with
the Star of David. This trend is generally popular among people who practice Judaism.
Both character are established with out dialogue or narration thanks to the
visual snow globes provided by filmmakers.
The story titled In the Grove had an interesting
character named Tajomaru. He owned a sword and kept it on his waist at all
times. I considered the weapon a snow globe because of the testimonies by all
the witness, especially Tajomaru’s. The sword was mention in every part of the
story including the condition of the body and the main clue as to who killed
the individual. In Tajomaru’s own testimony, he clams to use the sword attached
to his side and that is the only reason that it is there.
He goes on to say
that other kill with power or money. This suggests that he takes killing
seriously and felt it was needed to use while pursuing the other man’s woman.
The sword represents the character cut throat tactics. He doesn’t even consider
the matter of killing as great consequence while capturing a woman.
One last example of a snow globe
hidden in a story would have to be Bullet
in the Brain by Tobias Wolf. The snow globe I observed in the story was the
memories not remembered once the bullet entered the brain. Those memories
revealed the main character’s childhood, adulthood, job, hopes, relationships,
and other memories not included in the image that passed before his eyes as he
died. The author felt it was needed to state what Ander’s didn’t remember to
shed better light on why he would remember such a distant moment in his life.
Each event mentioned gave readers a better idea on who Anders was before his
death. I felt the connection with the character.
This visual element was shed so
much light on Ander’s in his life time that I felt awful knowing this character
had been killed.
