David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars
The early 1940’s were tough times for many Japanese living in America. This is all due to the Japanese and American conflict in World War II, after Japan decided to bomb Pearl Harbor. After this incident many Japanese-Americans were discriminated against and were thought of as bad Japanese instead of the Americans they were. A lot of these Japanese-Americans were unfairly sent to internment camps in the United States. This is also true of the incidents that take place in the fictional novel Snow Falling On Cedars, by David Guterson.
The discrimination all started at about 8:00 AM on December 7, 1941. At this time the Japanese assembled a fleet of planes and attacked Pearl Harbor, which is located off the shore of Hawaii. The Japanese decided to attack the United States because the U.S. enforced an oil embargo against Japan. This attack included a striking force of 353 Japanese aircraft. This was done by total surprise, before there was even a formal declaration of war. This was a well-planned time for the attack seeing how there were about 100 of the United States ships present on that day. At the same time there was an attack on a nearby field. This attack destroyed 18 of the United States aircraft (Pearl 1). During the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, there were 127,000 people of Japanese decent that were living in America. Many of the Americans began to fear that these people were going to turn on America and help out their country of ancestry. The following quote shows what it was like for many Japanese living in America.
Some 1,500 “enemy aliens” who were thought to have connections with Japan were immediately rounded up and interned by the De...
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...s, the eyes of a man hiding something (269).” The Americans judge the Kabuo because of his squinted Japanese eyes. They think that his eyes show that he is hiding his guilt.
The novel Snow Falling On Cedars shows a lot of the same prejudice that was around in the real world during World War II. This book was just a fictional story, but it definitely did deal with the situation of the real world at that time. Hopefully one day all races and ethnicities can unite and live in one place with out prejudice.
Works Cited
Arrington, Leonard. The Price of Prejudice. Logan, Utah: The Faculty Association Utah
State University, 1962
Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. New York: Vintage Books, 1995
“Korematsu V. US”
Snow Falling on Cedars, a novel by David Guterson, is a post World War II drama set in 1954 on the island of San Piedro in Washington State. The story’s focal point is the murder trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, who is accused of killing a fellow islander, Carl Heine, Jr., supposedly because of an old family feud over land. Although the trial is the main focus of the story, Guterson takes the reader back in time through flashbacks to tell a story of forbidden love involving two young islanders, Ishmael Chambers and Hatsue Imada (Kabuo’s future wife). At the time of their romance, interracial relationships were considered strictly taboo because of racial bias. It is through both this love story and Guterson’s remarkable use of setting and imagery that the reader is informed as to why racial prejudice is so high on the island of San Piedro at the time of the trial and why Kabuo is not merely on trial for Carl’s murder, but also for the color of his skin.
The Palace of Versailles is located about 10 miles outside of Paris. It is in the town of Versailles which at the time when the palace was constructed; the town was very small and later grew to a larger size of about 60,000 people. Originally the palace grounds were purchased by Louis XIII for hunting, at the time when the land was bought it was un-developed. The land was perfect a habitat for animals. Later when Louis XIV assumed the throne he began changing the land. In the time of Louis XIV's rule he changed the grounds drastically. While he was in control he made many enhancements to the grounds; he added a palace the consisted of a north and south wing, gardens and pressurized fountains. Another one of his enhancements included a mile long canal that was used for naval demonstrations. After the French government moved into the Palace of Versailles the king believed his work load became too much. To eliminate stress the King built himself a retreat about a mile away from the main palace called Grand Trianon. Once his
The racial conflict with Japanese-Americans began when the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a military naval base located in the state of Hawaii. “Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes, and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships” (“Attack” 1). The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on the Empire of Japan. The fear that resulted from the attack on Pearl Harbor caused many white Americans to hate the Japanese-Americans. Many Japanese were accused of being spies and were arrested without proof. “Rabid anti-Japanese American racism surfaced the first days after Pearl Harbor. The FBI and the military had been compiling lists of "potentially dangerous" Japanese Americans since 1932, but most were merely teachers, businessmen or journalists” (Thistlethwaite 1). In February of 1942, all of the Japanese on the West Coast of the United States were sent to internment camps.
One of the most important elements of Versailles that affected Louis XIV’s reign was the use of propaganda. The Palace contained “paintings, statues, tapestries” (Page) and a general grandness that significantly promoted Louis’ name. Louis himself was a “prominent subject in the artwork” (Montclos 330) and was portrayed as handsome and god-like. Even in the aspects of the Palace where Louis wasn’t literally being represented, the grand nature of Versailles sent out a message that the King was living lavishly, and was therefore very powerful. Louis XIV used the grandiosity of his Palace and the art inside to promote himself to his people.
One historical event that shows the general attitude of anti-Japanese feeling that was so prevalent in the 1940 to 1955 time period is an article from the Tuesday, March 24, 1942 edition of the New York Times. The article is written in Manazar, California, the same place where the Japanese people of the novel were sent. The article's title "Japanese Begin Evacuation Trek" is a show of prejudice itself ("Japanese" 21). The fact that the wholly unconstitutional relocation of not only aliens but American citizens is called a "evacuation" is laughable. This event was the forced relocation of people who reminded some other people of the tragic events of Pearl Harbor. To do this nowadays would be like gathering up all Arab-Americans ...
World War II was a time of deliberate hate among groups of innocent people who were used as scapegoats. Japanese-Americans were persecuted due to the fact that they looked like citizens of Japan, who had attacked the United States on December 7th, 1941 at the naval base, Pearl Harbor. This hatred toward the group was due to newspapers creating a scare for the American people, as well as the government restricting the rights of Japanese-Americans. The Japanese-Americans were mistreated during World War II for no other reason than being different. These men, women, and children were loathed by the American public for looking like the people of the Japanese army that had attacked the United States. These people were only hated by association, even though many had come to the United States to create a better life for their family.
In 1945 Japanese-American citizens with undisrupted loyalty were allowed to return to the West Coast, but not until 1946 was the last camp closed. The government of the U.S. tried to blame the evacuations on the war, saying they were protecting the Japanese by moving them. The government made statements during this time that contradicted each other. For example, Japanese-Americans were being called “enemy aliens” but then they were encouraged by the government to be loyal Americans and enlist in the armed forces, move voluntarily, put up no fight and not question the forced relocation efforts (Conn, 1990). Stetson Conn (1990) wrote “For several decades the Japanese population had been the target of hostility and restrictive action.”
On December 7,1941 Japan raided the airbases across the islands of Pearl Harbour. The “sneak attack” targeted the United States Navy. It left 2400 army personnel dead and over a thousand Americans wounded. U.S. Navy termed it as “one of the great defining moments in history”1 President Roosevelt called it as “A Day of Infamy”. 2 As this attack shook the nation and the Japanese Americans became the immediate ‘focal point’. At that moment approximately 112,000 Persons of Japanese descent resided in coastal areas of Oregon, Washington and also in California and Arizona.3
After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States was filled with panic. Along the Pacific coast of the U.S., where residents feared more Japanese attacks on their cities, homes, and businesses, this feeling was especially great. During the time preceding World War II, there were approximately 112,000 persons of Japanese descent living in California, Arizona, and coastal Oregon and Washington. These immigrants traveled to American hoping to be free, acquire jobs, and for some a chance to start a new life. Some immigrants worked in mines, others helped to develop the United States Railroad, many were fishermen, farmers, and some agricultural laborers.
In the movie A Beautiful Mind, the description of schizophrenia is shown in many accurate ways. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) states that the symptoms of this disease are delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, or unorganized or catatonic behavior. People with schizophrenia are also socially withdrawn and awkward when in contact with other people. These traits of the sickness are shown in detail throughout the movie by way of the character John Nash’s struggle with the disease. Nash is a very intelligent professor but believes he is working with the government to foil a Soviet attack plot. Nash eventually goes onto win a Nobel Prize for one of his theories. The movie shows the effects of schizophrenia on not only one man, but also on the friends and family of the ill individual. Treatment is discussed but not to any great length due to him ignoring the doctor’s orders on medication. Overall the movie shows some very prevalent traits of the disease in great detail during certain parts of the film.
In the process of war the public skipped to the conclusion that all Japanese Americans were out to get them. The suspicion of a government takeover was on everyones mind. Paranoia led people into to thinking every single Japanese American was guilty, no matter if it was a child, a WWI veteran, or if they had ever even been to Japan. The suspicion did not end there, inducing temporary segregation, and the exploitation of japanese american’s human rights. Mass hysteria and racism influenced the government's actions towards the Japanese.
During WWII, many Japanese-American citizens were imprisoned. They were imprisoned for being from the Japanese decent. There was no evidence to convict these people but they still were imprisoned. Many Japanese came to the West Coast, which caused Americans some paranoia. Americans thought that the Japanese might be terrorists in disguise. In February of 1942, President Roosevelt ordered Americans of Japanese to be sent to concentration camps which were located in various areas of the United States. There were many aspects to the imprisonment of the Japanese-Americans such as their life before coming to the camps, the executive order 9066, and what it was like being in the concentration camps.
Versailles was a very important place because Louis XIV “moved his court and government” to Versailles when it was newly renovated. It was also important because it became the “center of political, social, and cultural life.” Also that other absolutist monarchs in Europe copied the layout of the palace. This shows that Versailles is important because many others tried to recreate it. The palace was also used for government offices for royal bureaucrats, living quarters for the royal and noble families, and a place to work for hundreds of domestic servants. All these reason show why Versailles was an important place.
The film A Beautiful Mind tells the story of his life in an impactful way. In the beginning, he appears to be very smart and intuitive, yet also socially awkward. He gets a secret job as a spy against Russian forces. His secrecy and insanity increases as the film progresses to climax. In an abrupt moment, we find out that everything he was doing was fake; it was all just in his mind. By this time, he is already married, and yet, his wife knew nothing about his mental condition. He is diagnosed with schizophrenia, an illness that will forever change his life. He is given serious treatment to combat his symptoms, which eventually begins to work. After some time, he returns to a semi-normal life with his wife and kid, but his struggle was far from over. The people and images he saw that were only in his mind continued to be there, even after the treatment. It culminated when he stopped taking his medications, and the disease took over again. He even went so far as to start to drown his son, because his reality was distorted in such a way that he didn’t see the harm. Nash did recover from this episode and returned to a life full of medication and treatment. He always saw those same people that were in his head, but he just had to choose to ignore them. He even tried to come up with a mathematical cure, and he attempted to reason his way out of the sickness. However, there was no way out. The movie shows the powerful effects schizophrenia can have on the mind, even a great mind like John
The Palace of Versailles is situated at Versailles, France and was around ten miles southwest of Paris. It was implicit in the seventeenth century for King Louis XIII (Fiero 283). The Palace of Versailles has served as an imperial royal palace and many other purposes. It now serves as a museum of French history. The Palace of Versailles stands today as confirmation of the magnificence and dauntlessness of the Baroque period in the European history and its final effect on our modern day.