In "Silent Snow, Secret Snow," sanity is described as the ability to manage daily responsibilities and interact with others. In contrast, insanity is marked by a disconnect from routine experiences and a failure to communicate effectively. Deirdre’s eagerness when answering Mrs. Buell's geography question highlights her mental stability. The globe used in Mrs. Buell's lesson represents the real world, where people tend to become more social as they mature. On the other hand, Paul’s desire to retreat from reality and lose himself in the comforting snow indicates his increasingly abnormal behavior.

In "Silent Snow, Secret Snow," sanity is depicted as the capacity to distinguish between reality and illusion. Paul's parents are concerned that he is losing touch with his authentic self. The doctor investigates the reality of Paul's altered condition, while Mrs. Buell shares important truths about the world with her students. Deirdre expresses her sincere affection for Paul with a smile. Conversely, insanity in the story is linked to deception. Paul battles to conceal his awareness of the snow.

Love encompasses appreciating, treasuring, and voluntarily assuming responsibility for another person. It can also apply to entities or things, such as a career, a home, or a pet. Paul had a deep love for his parents, but his mental decline gradually wiped out these emotions, ultimately causing him to turn away from his mother. In contrast, hatred is the antithesis of love. It shuts down relationships instead of fostering them and is fueled by distrust and selfishness. Hatred severs the ties that unite individuals and, in its fervor, indicates a disruption of the mind.

Community involves the intentional sharing of values and possessions. In "Silent Snow, Secret Snow," the school classroom and family home symbolize community. Deirdre attempts to strengthen her connection with Paul by expressing her admiration when he answers a question correctly. Alienation, on the other hand, is the detachment from these communal ties. For Paul, this alienation happens when the snow alters his view of the world and eventually obliterates it.

Conrad Aiken's "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" shares a thematic kinship with Willa Cather's "Paul's Case," as both delve into the emotional and psychological alienation of young boys from the tangible world around them. In Aiken's narrative, the protagonist's gradual retreat into a snow-dominated fantasy realm can be interpreted not merely as a metaphor for a death wish but more compellingly as a depiction of schizophrenic detachment. This descent into an internal fantasy world reflects a deep psychological estrangement, inviting critical analysis through a Freudian lens, given Aiken's well-documented fascination with Sigmund Freud's theories.

The narrative of "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" echoes the conflict between Paul and his father in Cather's story, a dynamic reminiscent of the Oedipal complex. This connection is underscored by the detail of Paul reading from Sophocles’ Oidipous epi Kolni, further anchoring the story in Freudian psychoanalysis. Aiken's personal history adds another layer of depth to this interpretation. At the tender age of eleven, Aiken was a witness to the tragic events of his father's violent actions, where his father killed his mother and then took his own life. This traumatic experience inevitably colors the psychological undercurrents in Aiken's storytelling, enhancing its poignancy and complexity.

The narrative transcends a mere examination of psychological illness, delving into the literary exploration of dual realities. Aiken, blending his literary and psychological expertise, weaves a rich tapestry around the theme of "two different worlds," skillfully underscored by geographical and exploratory imagery. The protagonist, Paul, juggles a dual existence between a "public life" and a "secret life." He remains conscious of the delicate equilibrium required to...