In the following excerpt, Tebeaux explores Aiken'sdevelopment of the narrative and the use ofpoetical devices in "Silent Snow, Secret Snow."

" Silent Snow, Secret Snow," one of Aiken's most famous, most anthologized short stories, has received sparse critical discussion. Most likely becauseof Aiken's admitted indebtedness to Freud,the core of existing criticism attempts to define Paul's problem in terms of Freudian psychology. Recent criticism gives a general overview of Aiken's short fiction and attempts to place Paul among Aiken's other protagonists, his "lost people" who fail to accept the real world. I would like to suggest, however, that the powerful, intriguing effect of the story emanates less from the enigmatic nature of Paul's problem and more from Aiken's careful manipulation of style to develop the narrative. Aiken is less concerned with our interpreting Paul's problem than in making Paul's journey from reality into the world of snow as...