Nathaniel Hawthorne's Snow-Image is a short story about a young girl named Violet who discovers a magical snow-image in the woods near her home. The snow-image is a beautiful figure of a woman, made entirely of snow. Violet is enchanted by the snow-image and visits it every day, until one day it suddenly disappears. Violet is heartbroken and sets out to find the snow-image, enlisting the help of her brother, a local farmer, and a mysterious old man. Along the way, Violet learns about the power of imagination and the importance of believing in the impossible. The story culminates in a magical ending, as Violet discovers that the snow-image was created by her own imagination and that it was never really gone. In the end, Violet learns that the power of imagination can make even the most impossible dreams come true.
By Nathaniel Hawthorne · First published 1864 · Genre: Romanticism, Fantasy, Children's Literature