"The Dark Snow" is a short story by Brendan DuBois and it was published in 1996. The story revolves around a man who moves to Nansen in New Hampshire, after retiring from the army. As he slowly settles in, he starts to see a psychiatrist named Ron, but he faces a rough time opening up about his past as well as trying to adjust to his new civilian life, while being harassed and excluded by the town's inhabitants. .
The main themes in the story are letting go of the past, harassment and exclusion. The main character is trying to adjust to his new civilian life, and he goes through a hard time where the inhabitants of Nansen expose him for harassment, and while he tries to handle the chicane, he only meets people who recommend him to move away. Another main theme in the short story is about leaving the past behind and letting go. The narrator is definitely dealing with some very big life changes, and he is facing a lot of dissimilarities compared to his old life. He has a hard time fitting into the little close-minded society of Nansen. Besides that, he also suffers from anxiety and it could seem like he's also affected by posttraumatic stress disorder after his time in the military, where he served as a soldier who killed people. He has a lot of problems relaxing and sleeping at night because of his anxiety. He also has a hard time with coming to terms about who he is as a civilian. He lies to himself and the psychologist about what's wrong. It is very hard for him to feel comfortable as a civilian, and he cannot accept that he is not the one in charge of the situation, like he was in the military. .
There are different aspects of whether the narrator is a hero or a villain. The story is written with a first-person narrator, which easily makes the reader feel sympathy for the main character, because the story is written from the narrator's point of view. This might be why the narrator could be seen as a hero, because we think that the harassers are horrible people.
