The Locomotive of Society: Comparing The Yellow Arrow and Snowpiercer Louis Catalano College

In Victor Pelevin’s novel, The Yellow Arrow, there is an evident string of symbols and metaphors which represent the harsh conditions of the Russian people during the early 1990’s. One of the literally largest symbols in the novel was the train itself: The Yellow Arrow, a symbol of the Russian Federation. However, Pelevin’s use of a train allegory is not restricted to Post-Soviet Russia. The critically acclaimed film, Snowpiercer, has a plot that is very similar to The Yellow Arrow. The film also takes place aboard a train with no stops but resembles something entirely different. The settings of Victor Pelevin’s novel, The Yellow Arrow, and Bong Joon-ho’s film, Snowpiercer, have similarities and differences in representing democratic capitalist societies because of their social, economic, and political aspects.

One common trend found in the situations of the Yellow Arrow and the Snowpiercer is the social environment. On the Yellow Arrow, we see a clear distinction between the different cars; where the “open cars” are inhabited by the lower class and the cars with compartments are considered a higher class (Pelevin 25). The passengers who live at the end of the Snowpiercer are also forced to live in terrible living conditions...