Literary Analysis Of Let It Snow By David Sedaris

In “Let It Snow”, David Sedaris retells a seemingly innocent story of being in fifth grade and having a week off from school because of snow days. On the fifth snow day, Sedaris’ mother has a breakdown and ends up kicking Sedaris and his siblings out of the house so she can have time to herself. Sedaris and his siblings take the opportunity to go sledding and after returning a few hours later, realize their mother is still refusing to let them inside. As day turns to night, panic sets in and the children resort to drastic measures to get back inside and Sedaris comes up with a plan. Sedaris and his siblings convince the youngest sister, Tiffany, to lay out in the snow-covered road as a way to get revenge on their mother. Eventually, a passerby notices the young girl laying in the road and speaks with the mother, leading to her run outside to confront the situation. The story ends with the children surrounding the mother tightly as they all head back inside.
“Let It Snow” at first glance seems like an innocent story of Sedaris and his siblings enjoying a week of snow days and leads up the children getting stuck outside in the cold, snowy night. However, the story has a much darker side that the author masks by taking a humoristic …show more content…
This story was used to representation of how his dysfunctional family operated. In his own humorous way, Sedaris sheds light on the difficulties associated with being an alcoholic and the impact it can have on trying to raise children. There are many clues littered throughout the story that hint at Sedaris’ personal identity issues, along with his regrets he has about his mother and Tiffany. Sedaris was undoubtedly a troubled writer, who used to drown away his problems with alcohol and consuming drugs and hides his true thoughts and feelings behind his humor, but has since opened up about being gay and has formed a stronger relationship with his