Snow Treasure

The exposition in the opening chapters establishes the setting of Riswyk, Norway, and makes it a point to emphasize the extreme weather conditions, a fact that will become essential to the plot as the story develops. Located in the Arctic Circle, the town is characterized by its long, freezing winters, and although the people of Riswyk are used to cold weather, the author takes extra care to emphasize that “the winter of 1940 surpassed anything even the oldest could remember” (2). The uncommonly bitter weather thus foreshadows the unusual events that are about to unfold. Furthermore, the grand and wintery landscape is vividly depicted in a lavish illustration of the fiord. The mountainous edges of the snow-covered mountains on either side of the fiord drop steeply toward a beach. The landscape is impressive as well as foreboding. An illustration of the children clad in heavy coats, hats, boots, and mittens also stresses the importance of the wintery setting.

The exceptionally challenging climate and environment equips the townspeople with skills not shared by the invading Nazis. In this way, the ongoing theme of Environment as Ally is introduced very early in the narrative, for the townspeople plan to defend Norway’s wealth by utilizing their knowledge of the natural environment. As Peter and his father skillfully ski through the night to reach the cave, “climb[ing] with the aid of their poles and […] dig[ging] their runners into the hard snow banks to ‘walk up steps sidewise’” (21), McSwigan emphasizes the Norwegian father and son’s ability to navigate the landscape far more capably than the German invaders. Indeed, she goes so far as to state that “Peter and his father were well used to this kind of travel. They could talk as easily as if they were strolling in the town square” (21). This simile highlights the ease of their travel despite the dark night, the uneven terrain, and the deep snow. McSwigan intentionally showcases these practical skills in order to create a sense of believability in the idea that the Norwegian children are fully capable of pulling tons of gold through the woods and fiords on their sleds. Furthermore, Peter’s father reminds him that “you’ve spent a lot of your life in the woods. I’m counting on your woods sense to help” (20). Peter’s “woods sense” refers to his intimate knowledge of the landscape, which will assist him in helping the children navigate from the cave in the woods, to the fiord, and back again.

The theme of Environment as Ally is also referred to in the sailors’ ability to locate the explosive mines that have been planted in the sea channels around Norway and to navigate around them. Uncle Victor reminds his nephew: “Remember, Peter, we’re Norwegians and we’re as much at home in the water as we are on land. This is our country and these are our waters and there’s no foreign power that can keep us from using what’s always belonged to us” (34). Victor’s patriotism here is clear; the Norwegian locals are established as proud and capable people who will not endure the German invasion without mounting some kind of resistance. Thus, the occupying Nazis underestimate the Norwegians and fail to recognize and respect the skills and knowledge that the local people have developed to survive in the harshness of this coastal town within the Arctic Circle.

The exposition is followed by a period of rising tension in which McSwigan establishes the historical context of the approaching Nazi invasion. Initially, war is presented as a distant prospect that does not faze Peter, and the overly sanguine nature of Peter’s childhood perspective is established early on in the very manner and wording of his questions to his parents. For example, in Chapter 2, Peter plies his mother with questions about his father’s distracted manner. “‘Is it about the war?’ he asked as an afterthought. ‘About the Nazis taking Poland?’” (10). Peter’s question being delivered “as an afterthought” reveals that the war is not yet a pressing concern in the 12-year-old’s life (10), and this discrepancy between the carefree world of childhood play and the grim reality of approaching war and strife is further illustrated by the fact that Peter and his companions become so involved in their snowball fight that they “[fail] to notice the passing of time” (7). Thus, despite the invasion of Poland by the Nazis, the lives of the children in Riswyk are characterized as being relatively unaffected when the story first begins. Their lives are typically child-like; they are absorbed by the whims of play rather than concerning themselves with the broader geo-political situation of Germany’s expansion across Europe.

In a manner that is also very true-to-life, McSwigan conveys the children’s first inkling of trouble through their observances of the adults’ behavior, for unlike the children, the adults are agitated, distracted, and acting unusually. Although Peter notices these disturbances, McSwigan employs an element of dramatic irony in the fact that the boy does not immediately associate the adults’ unusual behavior with the imminent threat of war, while the reader may, given the historical context, make this connection ahead of Peter. The very first scene illustrates the adults’ growing unease, for Uncle Victor, who would usually respond with enthusiasm to his nephew and niece’s greeting, is brusque at best and gives “no great roar of greeting [that] the children had expected (4). Similarly, Peter’s father, when he hears that his brother Victor has returned unexpectedly, “pushe[s] back his chair and jump[s] up from the table” (8), astonishing the children by leaving his food uneaten. The children’s surprise at the unusually tense behavior of the adults is a clue to the reader that the war is coming to Riswyk, and a further period of rising tension ensues.

Further disruption to the status quo caused by the rapidly approaching war is evident when the children are formed into a Defense Club by Uncle Victor and begin air-raid drills. Furthermore, many of the men, including the schoolmaster and Peter and Lovisa’s father, Lars Lundstrom, leave town, and although McSwigan leaves the reason unexplained, it can be inferred that the men have left to join the Norwegian defense, and thus the absence of the men emphasizes the growing presence of the war in the Norwegian’s everyday lives. At this point in the story, the children are much more profoundly affected by the adults’ attitude of fear at Germany’s impending invasion, and their growing realization of the larger implications is demonstrated by their sudden unwillingness to play the games that had so recently captured the entirety of their attention and caused them to lose track of time. As Peter, the protagonist and narrator, states, “[W]ith [the schoolmaster] away, that day had been a holiday as would be the morrow and every other day. But what was the good of a holiday like that? No one wanted to play” (30). The agitation of the children thus marks a significant change in mood compared to the opening chapter, in which they played with abandon.

In accordance with the early trends of the story, McSwigan builds tension even further by describing the night of the blackout and conjuring an atmosphere of terror and foreboding in Norway on the night of April 8, 1940. Significantly, the blackout occurs on the night before the German invasion, which occurred on April 9, 1940, and McSwigan takes care to inject a nationwide sense of fear and doom in the narrative, emphasizing that the threat is an existential one that transcends the borders of this tiny coastal town. Her descriptions of “the feeling of impending evil” (29) and the fear that “some unknown terror would come out of the deep shadows” (29) causes the threat of war to arise like a specter in the night, even though the war has not quite reached the townspeople just yet. In this way, McSwigan employs the image of darkness, a universal symbol of fear and terror, to emphasize the fears of all Norwegian people on the night before the German invasion. The darkness is therefore symbolic of approaching warfare and all the terror that it brings; foreshadowing a matching metaphorical darkness that will engulf the country in five years of death, destruction, and enemy occupation.

When Norway is invaded, the children’s role in smuggling the gold to safety is brought to the fore, thus introducing the importance of Ingenuity and Resistance in times of conflict and oppression, as the Norwegians implement their creative plan to outsmart the Nazi occupiers and safeguard the country’s wealth. Still innocent of the harsher ways of the world, Peter initially romanticizes his role in outsmarting the Nazi soldiers, for he feels exhilarated by the opportunity for adventure. Yearning to be treated as an adult rather than a child, Peter feels proud that he is finally being inducted into Uncle Victor’s dangerous and adventurous way of life. However, the discrepancy between his idealized view of the world and the adults’ deeper understanding of the dangers is emphasized explicitly when Uncle Victor warns Peter of the possible risks and asks him bluntly, “So you wouldn’t mind if you met an enemy - one that carried a gun?” (13). Yet even this deadly image leaves Peter “breathless” with excitement, and he is emboldened by the drama of the situation and the importance of his central role in the scheme’s success. This trend of eagerness and romanticism is further illustrated when the children melodramatically swear upon the family’s sword, saying, “I swear I’ll have my tongue pulled out. I’ll be tortured with a red-hot poker, and I’ll have my head on a pole before I say a single word, (39). While noble, such an oath betrays the children’s immaturity and creates a sharp contrast between the frivolity of their attitudes and the gravity of their undertaking. Their excitement makes it clear that they do not grasp the true dangers of the situation, and thus this oath-swearing scene has more in common with their earlier antics in the snow than to the composure and solemnity that should be associated with beginning such a dangerous act of subterfuge against an enemy occupier.

Despite the children’s initial frivolity, however, the reality of the situation hits home when they encounter the Nazi soldiers in the fiord and face the threatening sight of “rifles stacked in neat rows” and “sentries goose-stepping” (48). As the children observe the scene, “fear look[s] out of all eyes” (48). The understated fear of this snowy scene is directly contrasted with the children’s previous snowball fight at this same location in the opening chapter; here, McSwigan intentionally creates a juxtaposition between the two scenes in order to emphasize the disruption and fear that the Nazi occupation has brought to the Norwegians’ everyday lives. As the narration emphasizes, the area “was not to be the scene of a snow battle and all the fun that went with it. Instead, there was solemness and silence, and Lovisa’s blue eyes were round with fright” (48). With this description, the author stresses the fact that the site above the fiord has been transformed from a place for childish fun to the nightmare of an armed enemy force. This moment signals a symbolic end to Peter, Lovisa, Michael, and Helga’s carefree childhood. After this point, the children will gain a new maturity and courage through the risky strategy of moving the gold, for the gravity of the situation necessitates it.

Throughout this section of the novel, the theme of Bravery in the Face of Danger becomes an important element—although not the melodramatic, play-style bravery exhibited when the children swore on the sword. Instead, the children learn how to show genuine bravery, which entails persisting in spite of fear, rather than in having no fear at all. This mature flavor of bravery is first epitomized in Helga, who encourages her friends to persist even when faced with the first terrifying sight of Nazi soldiers on the march. She points out to the others that because they will “have to meet [the Nazis] sometime, it might as well be now” (49). Helga’s nonchalant courage in the face of this danger encourages her friends to pursue their plan boldly. Peter also demonstrates bravery and lives up to his central role in the smuggling efforts, although his bravery in this section is unlike the naïve bravado that he demonstrates at the beginning of the story. When the children pass the soldiers on their first journey, his very sensible fear is apparent in his concession to Helga, for he is “frightened enough to want Helga to take the lead” (53). Far from being condemned for his fear, however, he is instead presented as demonstrating bravery by overcoming that fear and sledding so close to the watching Nazi soldiers. McSwigan suggests that bravery is not the absence of fear, but instead it is the decision to persist in spite of one’s fear. Furthermore, this is presented as a more adult and admirable form of courage than the children’s earlier melodramatic declarations. Thus, they go forth and meet the Nazi troops openly, and their initial encounter serves to establish the ruse more thoroughly, priming their enemies to accept the children’s back-and-forth sledding in the coming weeks as a normal, everyday occurrence rather than treating them with suspicion.

In addition to furthering the children’s secret aims, the scene also serves to humanize the Nazis somewhat, intentionally complicating their characterization. Although the children view the Nazi soldiers as terrifying foes who might torture or shoot them, the German captain treats Peter kindly when the boy almost crashes into the soldier’s ranks with his sled and even addresses Peter in Norwegian, stating, “It is not right that we spoil your sledding. When I was a boy I liked nothing better than sledding” (51). This conversation characterizes the Nazi soldiers as diverse individuals, many of whom are kind, like the captain, rather than being a homogenous group of evil enemies.