Powder

            
             The theme in the story Powder is that you have to live life on the edge sometimes you can't always be a goody, goody, but you cant always be living it on the spur of the moment and always taking risks.
             In Powder the boys father is very unreliable, financially unstable, likes spending his money like on expensive sport cars, and always going things on the spur of the moment. Like skiing on Christmas Eve when he probably knew he should have left to bring his son home. He also likes taking risks like when he called in the false report to get the sheriff watching the closed road to leave. Then he takes an even bigger risk when he drove down the closed snow covered road to bring his son home.
             On the other hand the boys mother is totally opposite of his father. She is very organized. She was going to have a nice Christmas Eve dinner with her son with the china set out on the table, turkey, holly leaves, the whole nine yards probably. She likes to keep things nice and clean. She is also very reliable she would always do what she said she was gong to do. She always plays it safe and probably would have never driven or even thought to have driven on a closed off road with snow on it. His mother is very very opposite of his father. .
             The boy in the story is very much like his mother. He is very clean and organized. He keeps his clothes on numbered hangers in his closet for proper rotation. He wouldn't even wear a shirt he wanted to if it wasn't on the next number hanger. It says that he is probably more of an adult than his father.
             In the story at the very end the boy says, "If you haven't driven fresh powder, you haven't driven." It means if you haven't ever lived life on the edge or done things at the spur of the moment you haven't lived. He realizes if he is like his mother always playing it safe and is always organized life is dull and boring doing the same thing over and over all the time.