Snow_in_August

Snow in August Throughout the novel Snow in August by author Pete Hamill, power words and the power of individual words are apparent. From fantasy to realistic, religious to secular, at some times in this book words are as loud and as powerful as actions. Power words are used for good as well as for evil. These words make up one of the major themes of the novel. One of the fantasy power words presented in the book is Shazam. Shazam stands for the names Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury. This magical word combines the power of all six into the mighty Captain Marvel, the legendary comic book character. When he needs to fight, “no matter how sinister his enemies were, no matter how monstrous their weapons, all he needed…was to shout the magic word” (Hamill 3). Michael Devlin, the main character, who is captivated by Captain Marvel, tries the powerful word for himself but to his chagrin is does not work. Shazam is clearly one of the most powerful words in the novel. But the theme mentioned is not just power words but also the power of words. Michael, after witnessing the beating words, power, michael, golem, hamill, word, shazam, powerful, novel, life, snow, one, great, frankie, fantasy, bring, book, august, throughout, religious, realistic, rabbi, pete, mr, matter, marvel, makes, just, individual, hirsch, good, evil, elements, crime, combines