Snow in August is written by Pete Hamill and the plot of the story is set in a primarily working class neighborhood of Brooklyn. The story is narrated very emotionally in revolving around two very appealing characters that have very rarely been witnessed in recent works of fiction. The story is about Michael Devlin, an eleven year old Catholic boy of Irish origin, and Rabbi Judah Hirsch, who is a refugee from Prague. The two met in a chance meeting when a swirling blizzard had struck Brooklyn on a Saturday morning and thereafter developed a unique and strong relationship. They shared the silent fears emanating from the experiences that they had. It was Christmas time in 1946 when the blizzard had struck and Michael who worked as an altar boy did not shirk from executing his job of serving the eight o clock mass. On his way he met Rabbi and was requested to switch on the light which had to be done only by a non Jew. Michael lived with his mother since his father was killed in World War I, and the story goes on to portray how some events that occured in the neighborhood, changed his entire life. Michael witnesses the nasty crook Frankie Mccarthy mercilessly beating the Jewish proprietor of the local confectionery store who goes into a coma at the spot itself. In stark warning Mccarthy threatened Michael to remain quiet. Michael started to work for Rabbi, a war refugee, in becoming his goy and very soon started teaching him baseball and English, and Rabbi reciprocated by teaching Michael about the secrets of the golem, an animated and monstrous artificial human being. Meanwhile McCarthy and his gang which was called the Falcons, kept involving in their terror activities. They mischievously painted swastikas on the walls of the synagogue and mercilessly beat up Michael after sexually harassing his mother. They also nearly beat the Rabbi to death, and the boy Michael vowed to set things right in mending the ways of McCarthy and his gang. In using what he learnt from Rabbi, he called for the Talmudic past in seeking help that would alter his life and his neighborhood for ever.
The story of Snow in August touches the heart with the harrowing experience that Jews had to undergo during the given time. Just as is seen in every place and age, natives of any given place are divided into the good and the bad guys. The bad guys are the rowdy and lethal gang members while the priest who is portrayed as socially responsible, is amongst the good guys. The beginning of enlightenment for both Rabbi and Michael is revealed when they both met for the first time. The strong relationship that developed between the two despite the vast age difference is clear indication that human grace and concern as practiced by people in different situations has no barriers. What matters most is the concern for humanity and empathy. The book blatantly reveals the hatred against Jews during the given times as also the large scale prevalence of lawlessness in Brooklyn. The ending of the book is in the nature of being a mix of reality and fantasy when Michael is able to avenge the atrocities of the Falcon gang members. He is able to bring the supernatural golem to life, which clearly indicates the high level of confidence and determination he had, in addition to the belief in being able to create what may have been a very remote possibility. This indicated that truth always prevails and that the victory is always for the truth as did happen in the book whereby the bad guys are badly defeated and given a taste of their misdeeds.
References
Pete Hamill, Snow In August, 1998, Grand Central Publishers.