FREE ESSAY ON SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS

SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS

The novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson, gives some 
examples on how past events can effect a community. In 1954 on an island near Seattle,
this 
novel describes the trail of a Japanese American fisherman accused of murdering a white 
colleague. The only one who can prove that the Japanese man, Kabou Miyanut, is innocent
is his 
wife's childhood love is still in love with her. The novel explores how this conflict
interferes 
with justice. 
This book takes place after World War II in a small town, filled with middle 
class, hard working people. The people for the most past are fishermen or family farmers,

strawberry farms owned by a family were common. The people who lived in San Piedro were 
mixed racially though. For the most part, the people were white, many of whom were of
Bavarian 
decent, and the other were common. The people who lived in San Piedro were mixed racially

though. For the most part, the people were white, many whom were of Bavarian decent, and

other were of Japanese decent. The Japanese in the town were looked down upon, and were
not 
considered citizens. They were also not permitted to own land. As World War II
progressed, and 
the United States was in war with Japan, and when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the Japanese

people of San Piedro were scorned. Many of the Japanese were thought to be spies and were

deported to a camp in Seattle, Washington, were they could be watched to make sure no 
espionage could take place. After World War II and the Japanese were allowed to return to
their 
homes, they were still scored and looked upon for being Japanese. The past events are
effecting 
a trial of an innocent man accused of murder. They can not appreciate the good things
that the 
families have done. 
Amand comments,"From the first push of immigration, when poor Japanese took
over the manual labor of the island, raising raspberries and strawberries on fertile
soil, to the
mounting tensions leading up to Pearl Harbor, the German-Dutch immigrants took upon the 
Japanese with trepidation and fear, tinged with the sentiment of superiority" 
Ishmael Chambers, a is a white newspaper reporter for the trail. He also grew up upon 
San Piedro Island. In his past, he had a forbidden relationship with a Japanese woman
name 
Halsue. Ishmael and Halsue would meet alone in a hollowed cedar tree. 
The critic, Amand, comments on, "The puppy love between Hatsue and Ishmael 
touchingly and easily rendered by Guterson, in an impossible one. Both of their parents
forbid the 
union. The hollowed-out base of the cedar tree where they meet in secret becomes a trope
of their 
relationship. The smell and green moss serve as bed and bedroom for their "marriage"."
Ishmael Chambers struggles with his feelings during the whole book. He still loves and
has
feelings for her but she has moved on with her life and has a husband with three kids. He
tries to 
find out information on for the trial, but he sees Hatsue and realizes that he still
loves her. At one 
point during the book Ishmael has a flashback that he is in love with Hatsue. On page 94,

"Ishmael Chambers, watching Hatsue, remembered digging geoduct clams with her below the 
bluff at South Beach. Hatsue, carrying a garden shovel and a metal pail rusted through in
its 
bottom, dripped water behind her as she walked the tide flat, she was fourteen and wore a
black 
bathing suit." 
Another reason why Ishmael struggles with his feelings is because he has lost his arms,
during 
the war. He was drafted to help serve his country to fight against the Japanese, and now
he is 
disabled physically. Towards the end, Ishmael finds out information that could break the
case, and put a new man on trail. Throughout the book he has a conflict, because of his
feelings 
towards Hatsue. He isn't sure to do the right thing because that means if he does the
right they 
Hatsue's husband does not go t o jail. At the end Ishmael does the right thing and tells
the truth.