In this story I think that the characters Donna and Vickie serve as foil characters to portray essentially two different types of Americans. Donna is the blissfully ignorant neighbor who has little interest in Ali's culture, and even goes so far as to try to set him up with an Equadorian girl due to thier similar appearance, as long as he attends her party. Vickie is conveyed as someone who seems very fascinated with ALi and wants to know about who he is and where he comes from. Although both characters are very different it is interesting how Ali deals with both of them in much the same respect. He seems to be annoyed or maybe just uncomfortable with them and prefurs to be alone. It's interesting though becasue throughout the story Ali seems to have a growing fascination with the girl Donna wants to set him up with and when he ultimately decides to attend her party I think Mattawa is expressing that Ali finally gave into his inhibitions and decided to explore the lives of his peers rather than just discount them.

First Snow is essentially dealing with the issue of the temptations of modern american society and how they effect a religious young man with different cultural standards. The story first shows Ali as someone who is resisting these temptations quite well, as he has never attended any of Donna's parties nor has he responded to any of Vickie's advances or met up with any girls Donna has tried to set him up with. To the people in Ali's life, he is seemingly pretty one-faceted in that he rarely discusses/does anything that doesnt have to do with his religion, Islam. Yet we as the readers can see that Ali is battling the temptations to assimilate and that it is not an easy battle for him, giving his character more depth. In the end Ali goes out to supposedly just purchase some groceries but ends up attending Donna's party "just for a second" in hopes of seeing Nima. It is as if he is just telling himself that he will just drop by really quickly, but instead will end up staying longer. The door slamming behind him I feel symbolizes that he has made his foray into the american culture and that he might begin to change his ways slightly. The fact that he has previously avoided women and all of a sudden wants to see this girl Nima also suggests this metamorphosis,.

This poem seems to deal with the fantasy/ reality of American life through the perspective of the young and optimistic Mattawa as he makes the transition from daydreaming to actually experiencing his fantasies when he arrives. The poem begins idealizing America and the fancy equipment, attractive women and carefree lifestyle depicted in a Sears catalog. This catalog serves as a catalyst to his imagination as he envisions what is seemingly paradise in the illustrations and equates happiness with the items sold at Sears. He then faces a different reality once he arrives in New Orleans, where “The city’s stench nauseated us, mosquitoes slipping through out window screen..” and we can presume that his expectations will not all be fulfilled. Along with his brother, he enjoys shopping at Sears and later meets a waitress, who he ends up sleeping with in a dreamlike state as his fantasies take place before him. The final, paradoxical quote “What kind of flower do you want planted next to your grave?” he utters in his sleep seems to suggest that he has succumbed to the self serving, materialistic American lifestyle as he attempts to sell his product with no concept or sympathy for the idea of death itself. Caught up in the excitement of shopping and women, it seems his priorities chnage as he adapts to a new lifestyle and perhaps unintentionally loses some of his principles in the process

In "First Snow", the point of view is in the third person, telling us what's going on in Ali's life. While this gives us an overview of the whole story without making us bias (as we may be seeing things solely through Ali's eyes), it creates somewhat of a barrier between the reader and the character. I think that the point of view is appropriate though because through this we can see what Ali is thinking, rather than him telling us himself. I think the overall theme is loyalty to religion. Ali tries to stay away from his friends parties despite her best efforts to get him to go. He also tries to stray away from the girl Vickie that is obviously interested in him. Through his efforts to stay away from going out and girls, Ali is trying to adhere to his strict Muslim views. What is ironic is that as hard as he tries to stay away from Donna's friend at the party, he has to find out just what she looks like because it is forbidden. It is sort of paradoxical that he tries so hard to stay away from one girl, yet he can't keep himself from going to see Nima, even though it means he has to sacrifice his beliefs and go to the party.

Mattawa’s “First Snow” is narrated in the third-person limited, by a man named Ali. Ali feels rather static at first – he is on the brink of a dramatic change, but he lacks the drive to metamorphisize. However, after a conversation with Vickie, Ali becomes dynamic. By eventually accepting Donna’s invitation, and going to the party, he finally begins assimilating into American society. In contrast, at the beginning of the story, Ali uses Islam as a defense against socializing and partying. He hides behind his Arab culture, and avoids meeting girls and going out. But, when Vickie invites him to Christmas dinner, he realizes his avoidance of assimiliation is merely playing hide-and-seek with the inevitable. And so, Ali decides to finally attend Donna’s party, declaring his willingness to sample American life.

Recurring throughout the short story “First Snow” is the resistance Ali enforces upon his American experience. Whether denying friendships is a function of rejecting assimilation or whether that causes the rejection of assimilation itself remains questionable. The expectation is that Ali’s relationship with Vickie and Donna will reach a plateau, in that the stagnation in the development of his relationships is caused by his selective ability to create an impenetrable fortress around himself. The depth of Ali’s character seems inaccessible to the other characters in the narrative, but as readers, we see that he endures great suffering and loneliness as he voluntarily relocates from his home to Tennessee, a culture altogether repulsive to him. Because Ali’s thoughts and interactions are described in the third person, the narrator creates distance between himself and Ali. This allows the reader to subject Ali to criticism as well as to empathize with the conditions of his life and the sadness of his empty social exchanges. Most perplexing is the resolve at the end of the story when he decides to attend the party. The story terminates here, and all we are left with are the remnants of his life before he makes a decision that could potentially conflict with his morals.
-sarah