Snow+Falling+on+Cedars

= **Title of the Work** =
 * Snow Falling on Cedars **

= Author =
 * David Guterson **

= Nationality/Ethnic Background = In the novel //Snow Falling on Cedars//, there are very obvious ethnic tensions in play. Many of the characters in the novel are from Japan while the rest are American. The Americans do not trust many of the Japanese characters and do not think they deserve all that the Americans deserve. In the courtroom, the Japanese character, Kabuo is treated unfairly. Kabuo tried to gain land from the American, Carl Heine. This does not go well and causes the charges for Carl's death to be brought apon him. Pearl Harbor just happened and this was the main reason for the issues between the Japnese and the Americans.

= Pertinent Biographical Information =

= Literary Historical Period/Movement and Pertinent Background = The novel //Snow Falling on Cedars// is set during a time with much unrest. Pearl Harbor had just happend and there was a lot of distrust between Americans and Japanese.

= Genre and Sub-genres =

** Courtroom Drama **
= Major Characters, Their Relationships, Their Conflicts =
 * Kabuo Miyamoto- Kabuo Miyamoto is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine. While he did not commit this murder, he struggles with himself because he did kill many people during WWII. Kabuo feels bad about this and struggles between wanting to be free and feeling like he deserves to be in jail for the people he did kill. Kabuo is married to Hatsue Imada and they have children together. Kabuo's main conflict is with himself while he is in jail but the conflict between he and the court is the main focus of the novel. Kabuo is a Japanese man who is persecuted because of his ethnicity.
 * Ishmael Chambers- Ishmael Chambers is a writer who has never gotten over his childhood love, Hatsue Imada. Hatsue and Ishmael ended up separating for many reasons but one was because of their ethnicities. Hatsue was Japanese while Ishmael was white. Mixed relationships are not approved of during the time the book is set in. Ishmael covers the trial of Hatsue's husband, Kabuo, in his newspaper, the San Piedro Review. Ishmael, like Kabuo, had a bad experience in WWII that haunts him in his later life. Ishmael lost an arm in the war and has to deal with not being like the rest of the people around him.
 * Hatsue Imada- Hatsue Imada is married to Kabuo Miyamoto, the man on trial. She is the mother of Kabuo's children and had a childhood love affair with Ishmael Chambers. Hatsue reflects on her childhood often and lets it affect her adult life. She is torn between the love she had as a child and the love she has now, as an adult.
 * Carl Heine- Carl Heine is the man who is killed on his fishing boat. He has problems with Kabuo over land issues.

= Brief Plot Summary =
 * On San Pedro Island, a Japanese-American man named Kabuo Miyamoto is on trial for the murder of Carl Heine, a loved war veteran.
 * The trial is occurring right around the anniversary of the bombing at Pearl Harbor.
 * Kabuo and his family are afraid the trial will be biased because of the environment they are currently in.
 * However, reflecting back on killing Japanese in the war as an American soldier, Kabuo already considers himself a killer.
 * As the trial continues, it is evident that there is racial tension and bias in the courtroom.
 * The trail proves that the white American's have been bitter for many years, even before the war.
 * The story flashes back to when Elta Heine, Carl's mother, took advantage of Kabuo's father when her husband passed away.
 * Before he died, Carl's dad agreed to sell seven acres of land to the Miyamoto family.
 * Elta hated the thought of having a Japanese owning her land and sold the land to Ole Jurgensen, an old farmer.
 * Once Ole Jurgensen was ready to sell his land, he gave it away to Carl Heine, instead of Kabuo.
 * Knowing how desperately Kabuo wanted the land, Carl was going to consider selling some of the land to Kabuo.
 * The night Carl died, we was fishing and got stranded, but Kabuo came and rescued him.
 * Carl agreed to see the land to Kabuo because of his kindness.
 * The same night, massive waves hit the boat from a freighter and Carl was hit with a mast that knocked him into the water, where he drowned.
 * When investigating the case, Horace Whaley told everyone that the mark on Carl's head looks like the wound given by a Japanese soldier who was excellent at Japanese martial art called kendo.
 * All evidence pointed to Kabuo, a skilled martial artists, until Ishmael discovered the logbook of the freighter and saw they freighters wake from it's arrival is what killed Carl.
 * However, Ishmael doesn't release this information because he wants Kabuo's wife, Hatsue, to suffer for breaking his heart years ago.
 * The jury is about to make the verdict of guilty, until at the last minute Ishmael tells Hatsue of his discovery and Kabuo is set free.

= Motifs (Recurring Images, Ideas, Figures of Speech, Symbols, Colors) & Their Thematic Significance =
 * The Storm:** The book references the storms that are happening around the island many different times. The storm is occurring outside the courtroom during the trial which disrupts the jurors in their decision making. A fog sets of the waters that Carl Heine is in which inevitably leads him to his own death because he is thrown off course into dangerous waters. The storm also brings snow later in the book, which knocks out power from the city, leaving the citizens helpless against the storm. The recurring idea of the storm shows how the lives of humans are not controlled by themselves. Things that are not always as planned; life is out of the hands of humans and in the hands of destiny.

**Other Significant Thematic Elements (Significant Character's Names, Significant Quotations, Significant Actions/Events)**


 * As the body is discovered and the trial of Kabuo is occurring in the background of character explanations, the reader is left to question what really happened on the boat, who is the actually murder, how did Kabuo become an accused victim. The small little excerpts about the truth of the case in the midst of the story lead the reader to believe the author is touching at a central idea testing the readers want to know more. The limit of information affects how jurors and bystanders view the case and make their decision. The amount of knowledge released affects the point of view of a story and changes the reactions of people.


 * As Art drives Able’s truck over to the Heine residence, he notes the fact that his loud, obnoxious truck symbolizes a part of his youth he has not let go of yet. The truck is the last piece of youthfulness Able has to hold on to which is why he has not traded it in for a moderate simple car Art implies is necessary. Many of the characters fought in the war where they lost a piece of themselves, including Carl. The truck symbolizes the act of holding on to a piece of the past that may be forgotten to most, but still important to that particular character.


 * After Pearl Harbor, racism increases with blackouts, arresting innocent people, and freezing accounts. The idea of racism continues when the letters come out announcing all Japanese residence in the area had eight days to pack up all their belongs and report to a government sponsored camp. When word spread through the island about Pearl Harbor over the radio, the people began to look down on their Japanese neighbors they had known forever because the thought of betraying their country was too prevalent at the time. Members in the community also turned against anyone who supported the rights of the Japanese. Ishmael’s father, Arthur lost newspaper customers over the idea of stories revealing the sides of the Japanese being printed. Hatsue’s dad was arrested for possessing dynamite for the thought that he might be helping the Japanese in the war in anyway.


 * The other part of the book that implies racism among the characters is the repetitive use of the word Jap when referring to a Japanese person. This is a derogatory term used to look down upon anyone of a Japanese decedent. People use this word to show their superiority over the other races and their beliefs that their beliefs and race prevail over all other ethnic backgrounds mixed within the community.


 * Throughout the book the author uses many Japanese words to bring parts of the Japanese culture and background of the characters. All the names of the characters are genuine Japanese names that have an importance in showing the character’s upbringing and ethnicity in relation to their surroundings and their neighbors. The author works to bring in parts of the Japanese culture and tradition.


 * “Ishmel gave himself to the writing of it, and as he did so he understood this, too: that accident ruled every corner of the universe except in the chambers of the human heart.” (406) This quote is the last quote from the book. The truth behind the trail has been revealed and the relationship of Ishmael and Hatsue has reached its extent. This quote sums up the entire theme from the book that accidents everywhere all the time, except in love. There are no accidents that occur when people are truly in love. The point of the book is to analyze the death of Carl Heine and follow the relationship of Ishmael and Hatsue. In the end, though, Carl’s death ends up being an accident from where he fell when he was trying to put up a lantern on his mask while a the force of the passing freighter pushed him into the sea. The relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue was never an accident, it was true love.


 * As the snow continues, trees began to fall in the roads and on people’s properties causing problems. The fallen trees have a direct connection to Ishmael and his life falling apart. The trees inconvenience people just as small aspects are inconveniencing Ishmael. Hatsue refuses to acknowledge Ishmael where he begins to feel remorse. He cannot print his paper. He does not have tires for his truck. People are bad drives and he is worried about getting hit. All of these events are like separate trees falling in the way of Ishmael. Although they will eventually be moved out of the way, they are causing him major pain to him.


 * As Ishmael is driving down the road he passes Hatsue and her father out trying to start the car in the storm. Ishmael knows they need help but also knows that Hisao will not except any help from him out of trying to stay reserved with his own problems and not burden others. This is part of his Japanese raising and background.


 * Upon Ishmael’s return from the war with only one arm, he sees Hatsue at the supermarket. He confronts her about his horrors from the war and longing need to hold her in his arms. From being full of anger and desperation to see her, he uses racial terms to address the loss of his arm father pushing Hatsue away. This is an important scene because it sets the relationship for the two to come in the future. Hatsue can no longer connect with Ishmael. Too much has happened in the past damaging their relationship pushing him away to suffer by himself.

= Major Themes =

**Thematic Passage One:** Page 100 “It had started on the day that they’d clung to his glass box and kissed in the sea, and now it must go on forever. He felt certain of this. He felt certain Hatsue felt the same way.” **Theme One:** A theme for the first section of the book is that the events and relations of a person’s past highly affects how others, and more particularly themselves, view them as they have grown and changed over the years. Ishmael and Hatsue had a strong relationship in the past that is kept secret from everyone but themselves. Ishmael stills longs for the acceptance and love of Hatsue, who has fallen in love with another man that she is fully committed her time and energy towards. His past relationships affect how others, specifically Hatsue, view him today.

**Thematic Passage Two:** Page 200 “The whites, you see, are tempted by their egos and have no means to resist. We Japanese, on the other hand, know are egos are nothing.” **Theme Two:**Racism is a recurring motif throughout the book that connects to the theme of the idea of judging people based on their ethnicity and background, which will eventually push other people, who are important to that particular person, away. Etta was the first racist character, which became apparent when she was discussing selling the land to Zenhichi Miyamoto, a local Japanese strawberry farmer, with her husband. Etta pushed her husband Carl Senior and her son Carl Junior away. They did not agree with her beliefs and did not follow the same ideas she enforced upon them.

**Thematic Passage Three:** Pg 460 “Ishmel gave himself to the writing of it, and as he did so he understood this, too: that accident ruled every corner of the universe except in the chambers of the human heart.” **Theme Three:** This quote is the last quote from the book. The truth behind the trail has been revealed and the relationship of Ishmael and Hatsue has reached its extent. This quote sums up the entire theme from the book that accidents everywhere all the time, except in love. There are no accidents that occur when people are truly in love. The point of the book is to analyze the death of Carl Heine and follow the relationship of Ishmael and Hatsue. In the end, though, Carl’s death ends up being an accident from where he fell when he was trying to put up a lantern on his mask while a the force of the passing freighter pushed him into the sea. The relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue was never an accident, it was true love.