Reading Response to "Powder"

I really enjoyed reading the short story “Powder” by Tobias Wolff. I found it to be a prime example of scene and summary, show and tell. The story begins with a brief summary about the fight that the narrator’s father has with the mother to take their son on a ski trip just before Christmas. The summary is brief, but informative. Through it we learn that there are marital troubles between the parents, and that the father is somewhat unreliable and not a very parental figure. There is another summary about getting in one last run before their departure from the ski lodge, and how the father is indifferent to the time, the snow, and his son’s fears. The scene begins with their departure from the lodge in the middle of the storm. We hear the father speak to his son, cajoling him with a pet phrase “right doctor.” We also hear the father trying to persuade the state trooper into letting him through the blocked roach. There is another quick dialogue in the diner, when the father seeks permission from the son for the reckless act he is about to undertake. Then there is the act itself, that of breaking the barricade and virgin snow. Through the dialogue and the action, we experience the father as a pleading, persuasive, dishonorable, yet confident individual. And, in the end some of the father’s influence rubs off on his worrisome son, who finally surrenders his fretting, and just enjoys the ride and this memorable experience with his father before his parents make their final split. What a roller coaster of emotions this story takes us on, with this artful combination of showing and telling.