Snow

The weather is an externalization of the inner world of the characters. "Complainers" begins with Cathy’s husband warning her that a blizzard is coming, but when Cathy arrives at Connecticut, she is surprised that the sky is still clear blue. A blizzard is the force that shuts-in Cathy and Della together for over a month. In the end of the short story, Della chooses to leave her walker behind and walk out into the snow. The beginning, middle, and end are marked by Winter, first as a looming threat, then as a fortuitous moment to shut out the rest of the world that impedes in their independence, and finally as a symbol of a blank slate and possibility that ends the story. Winter is often a symbol of old age, but Jeffrey Eugenides goes further and connects the whiteness of snow to dementia and the...