Mood of Passage in Snow Falling On Cedars

644 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: English essay of depression

In the passage be ginning “They had picked…” from the novel Snow Falling On Cedars, the author, David Guterson, uses many techniques to give the passage a depressing, and frightening mood. He uses vivid imagery to describe Carl’s dead body. He also uses figurative language, such as metaphors and similes to show the severity of the situation. Finally, his diction shows the reader how reading about a crime scene can seem real if the word choice is right. All the techniques Guterson use help the reader to feel as if they were actually at the scene when Carl’s dead body was found in the ocean.
The words that Guterson uses create vivid images in the reader’s mind thanks to his use of imagery in the passage. For example, when one reads about the “bubbles of seawater coursing under” Carl’s shirt, and his “icy but brilliant pink” skin that looked as if the sea had parboiled in the sea, they might be disgusted. The imagery lets readers actually imagine a dead Carl in their mind, which can be very depressing. Death is also a very scary subject for some, so imagining this would even frighten some. If Guterson would have just said that he was dead and the officers pulled him out of the water, it would not have been as effective. The reader might not have even got any mood out of that, but the mood is also determined by other factors.
Figurative language is used abundantly in the passage. Guterson uses metaphors such as Carl’s h...

Show More
Related

  • Powerful Imagery and Settings in David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparing Novel and Film Version of Snow Falling on Cedars

    2273 Words  | 5 Pages

    It is no easy task to create a work - through writing or film - that has an impact on society. In writing, one must discuss and analyze a relevant topic that will have an impact on the readers. One must also present stunning sensory images through words in order to create a complete understanding for the reader. In filmmaking it is not much different, but there must be striking visual imagery in combination with a fitting musical score in order to give the viewer of the film the full experience. There must also be historical accuracy, both in writing and film. In either case, it can take years to create such a captivating piece of work. David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on Cedars and its cinematic counterpart of the same name combine all of the aspects of good writing and filmmaking to create an emotionally provocative and historically accurate masterpiece.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of An Impartial Spectator

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    Adam Smith’s moral theory explains that there is an “impartial spectator” inside each of us that aids in determining what is morally and universally good, using our personal experiences and human commonalities. In order to judge our own actions, we judge and observe the actions of others, at the same time observing their judgments of us. Our impartial spectator efficiently allows us to take on two perceptions at once: one is our own, determined by self-interest, and the other is an imaginary observer. This paper will analyze the impartiality of the impartial spectator, by analyzing how humans are motivated by self-interest.

    Read More

  • The Fantasy of Orality in Absalom, Absalom!

    3066 Words  | 7 Pages

    Guetti, James. "Absalom, Absalom!: The Extended Simile."The Limits of Metaphor: A Study of Melville, Conrad, and Faulkner. Ithaca: Cornell, 1967. 69-108.

    Read More

  • Morality In Descartes's Heart Of Darkness And Native Guard

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, Heart of Darkness, Kurtz’s greed and maliciousness consume his actions and take over his body. Since Kurtz gains authority from his copious amounts of Ivory, he becomes arrogant and abuses his power. He murders groups of natives and hangs their heads on stakes to show his control which instills a sense of self validation. Sarcastically, Marlow states, “evidently the appetite for more ivory had got the better of the-what shall I say?-less material aspirations”(Conrad 86). He displays his cruelty by placing material wealth like Ivory above human lives. This obsession eats him alive, and slowly, he becomes his treasure. His body deteriorates, and Marlow “saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror. . .”(105). He becomes a reflection of his greed which leaves him “hollow at the core” with no moral compass(87). In the beginning, the setting takes place in an ironic town called Brussels. Conrad alludes to a book in the Bible and states, “I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre. Prejudice no doubt”( 13). In the Bible, a whited sepulchre represents the burial site for the deceased and also represents a hypocrite. As the bodies rot underground and the bones take their place, the sepulchre serves as a comparison to the hidden impurity and sinfulness throughout Western civilization. The inside holds the truth while the outside

    Read More

  • Tom Petty Analysis

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a myth that Petty became inspired to write this song about this girl who attended the college in his town, University of Florida, who had consumed hallucinogens and decided she could fly, leading her to jump 13 floors and she landed face down on the concrete causing her death. This girl was considered to be an “All-American” beauty and Petty became captivated by the story which led him to write the song “American Girl” (Song Facts, n.d.). “American Girl” is a strophic song in which he sings of this girl mentioned above. He says that she is “raised on promises” and that she thought that there was more to this life than what she was receiving. Petty recollects on the night she presumably jumped off the balcony by singing, “it was kind of cold that night. She stood alone on her balcony.” The lyrics suggest that as she was standing there alone, she thought of the man that had achingly broken her heart. Given the background of this song, this is when she most likely took the leap off the building while she was reaching for something that was “still so far out of reach.” This song includes the main voice of Tom Petty, a guitar, drums, bass guitar, and background vocals. This song includes a fast tempo in which makes the story seem almost compelling to the listener. This tune, although the horrible background story, is a fun and interesting song to hear because of the intriguing upbeat

    Read More

  • Non Human Primates Essay

    1756 Words  | 4 Pages

    Anubis baboons live in large, multimale, multifemale troops, with high degrees of polygamy and aggression. In contrast, hamadryas baboons have a multilevel social system; during sometimes of the day hundreds of animals share a limited resource (e.g., cliffs used for sleeping), while at other times males herd young females into their groups, forcibly retaining them in stable “harems.” When Kummer moved a female Anubis into a hamadryas group and a female hamadryas into an Anubis troop, within hours the Anubis female had assimilated the hamadryas social style, following a male who had herded her into his harem. This is attributed to use of physical force by dominant male. However, this could not explain the fact that within hours the hamadryas female had ceased attempting to align herself with (and be herded by) an adult male and adopted the more open Anubis system (Kummer

    Read More

  • The Ways We Lie

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    Core Question 1: Why does the author use a metaphor on page 128, paragraph 35?

    Read More

  • why we crave horror movies

    1371 Words  | 3 Pages

    Once audiences under why they watch horror movies they will gain a better understanding of themselves. An understanding of how we watch horror movies to control and conquer our nightmares. Also an understanding for the reason why we follow society's rules is due to feeding our dark sides. Along with feeding our dark sides, audiences will gain an understanding that we watch horror movies to take a break from our daily lives.

    Read More

  • Environmental Factors Affecting Primate Social Structures

    522 Words  | 2 Pages

    The seasons play an important role in when the primates of a social group reproduce. In the article “Environmental Factors and Puberty in Non-Human Primates” by TM Plant claims “In an outdoor environment, rhesus monkeys exhibit seasonal breeding, with mating and birth seasons in the autumn and spring, respectively” (Plant 1996). Autumn and spring represent the times when the female rhesus are fertile and can produce an offspring. The seasons relates to the primate social system because the rhesus monkeys are a uni-male or harem group. Typically, a rhesus monkey group follows a ratio of four females to one male. Thus, allowing the male two seasons during the year to produce an offspring with the females in the group. It takes approximately one hundred and sixty four days for the females to have the offspring. If a female rhesus gets pregnant during either of the two seasons it gives roughly a two month gap for the females to give birth. In this time period, males can acquire new females to increase their size with other rhesus males as troops that can steal females from rival

    Read More

  • Bystander Open Book Reading: Questions On Figurative Language

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    6. What form of figurative language does the author use in line 12 of page 212 to make his writing more interesting?

    Read More

  • Thematic Purpose Behind Snow

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    John Riquelme’s essay For Whom the Snow Taps: Style and Repetition in “The Dead” proposes two possible interpretations of the story. The essay describes the variations of meaning behind the recurring thematic purpose of the story, but even more so, points out the repetition of the symbol of snow. Focusing mainly on the celebrated last passage of the story, Riquelme harps on the transformat...

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis Of Ida Fink's The Table By Ida Fink

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A hard packed snow lay on the streets; it was red with blood”(page 1263), “The snow was red. Bloody Sunday”(page 1267), “The snow was black. That was the blood.”(page 1272). Even the first man, who is only implied to have emotionally cracked during his testimony, “Have you recovered… Can we go on?”(page 1258), mentions the snow “There was snow on the streets. The snow was red.”(page 1263). Each one of them remembers the snow perfectly. It was a visual effect that carried the weight of their terror and agony. The blood of their people running through the ground pushed out any memory of specific details which, to them, were minor. Specific details such as the table used in the selection

    Read More

  • Subdivisions Of Anthropology Essay

    701 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Anthropology is the study of humankind and all its manifestations in all times and places. Anthropologists study the biological, cultural, linguistic, and prehistoric aspects of humans” (Smith, Young 7). There are four main subdivisions in anthropology: biological anthropology, physiological anthropology, linguistic anthropology, cultural anthropology. These subdivisions of anthropologists work in all areas on the world, with all ages and periods of time. “Biological anthropology, in many respects, closely resembles the field of biology, except that anthropologists focus on human beings, their ancestors, and their primate relatives, and not on nonhuman life forms” (Smith, Young 10). One of the major subject matters that biological anthropologists

    Read More

  • Mens Rea In Criminal Law

    749 Words  | 2 Pages

    Only those breaking the law willingly are held criminally responsible for their actions (Mens Rea, n.d.). Mens rea helps prove guilt in a criminal trial. The prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime with a culpable state of mind (Mens Rea, n.d.). Mens rea requirement is based on the idea that the offender must possess a guilty state of mind and be aware of their misconduct; however, they do not have to know that their conduct is illegal to be guilty of a crime only that the offender is conscious of the fact (Mens Rea, n.d.). Courts will usually apply the mental state to each element of the crime. Even if there is no statute mentioning a mental state, the court will usually require the government to prove the defendant possessed a guilty state of mind while committing the crime (Mens Rea,

    Read More

More about Mood of Passage in Snow Falling On Cedars

Open Document