Snow Hunters Chapters 17 & 18

The novel ends with a love story vibe to it. In chapter 17, Bia tells Yohan all the things she remembers about him and makes it seem like she is going to finally stay for good. However, in chapter 18, she leaves again without saying goodbye. Yohan then walks around the town and meets up with Peixe. It is interesting how he suddenly interacts with so many people in the town. He makes it seem like he is not phased by Bia not being there. The narrator talks about how Yohan played soccer with the children on the beach (193) and even helped a family build a fire. It shows that Yohan received a lot of kindness when he went to Brazil, but he was very kind to the townspeople as well. Yoon uses a dramatic tone to talk about how Kiyoshi’s room is empty, as if Bia actually left him once again. His writing is always very direct but he describes Kiyoshi’s room just as it appears. He says, “He woke the next day to find Kiyoshi’s room empty. The bed has been made, the sheets tucked, and the blanket folded. He leaned against the doorway. A fly circled around the corner of the ceiling. He looked around at the nightstand, the photograph, and the chest of clothes, and the slippers under the bed. He looked down at the mattress to see if her shape was still visible (Yoon 189). The narrator is describing everything that is in the room without giving vivid pictures. The dramatic tones comes from the last sentence because it is not normal to look for someone’s shape on a mattress. Yohan eventually sees Bia approaching the bay at the end of the chapter. On page 195 she says, “I’m not very good at this.” She makes it seem like she is referring to paddling, because it is interpreted that she is also talking about romance and commitment. Bia always leaves Yohan because she is scared of losing another person she is close to. On the last page of the novel (196), Yohan says to her, “Bia stay this time.” She makes it seem like she is leaving again, but then stops once he says those words. She makes her way toward him because he has affirmed his feelings and wants her to be with him. This ending is beautiful because it creates a sense of romance in the novel.