Snow Falling On Cedars Essay

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Recommended: Racism in literature

David Guterson: Beyond the Falling Snow
The earth functions as more than a mat for humanity to walk on. It gives life, takes away life, invokes emotions and swallows them as well. Snow Falling on Cedars follows the murder trial of Kabuo Miyamoto, a fisherman, on the death of Carl Heine, another fisherman. Although complicated with the love triangle of Kabuo, his wife, Hatsue, and her former lover, Ishmael Chambers, and racial prejudices between the Japanese and white residents of the island, the earth or setting plays the important role of devouring the characters. David Guterson combines his research for the novel and his techniques employed while writing it with the prejudices established in the work and the development of the main characters in order to convey the cycle of decay
Guterson chose not to write this book solely off of what he already knew, but wanted to make it as accurate and realistic as possible. Therefore, he dove into the World War II internment camps and the lifestyles of Japanese-Americans. The author developed “graceful, restrained images of Japanese-American life […through] extensive research and interviews with the area’s [Puget …show more content…

"Critical Essay on 'Snow Falling on Cedars'." Novels for Students. Ed. Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
Harris, Michael. "Sometimes, Even Good People Must Coexist With Evil." Los Angeles Times (19 Sept. 1994): E4. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism Select. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
Kanner, Ellen. "A Wonderful Irony: The Quietest of Books Makes the Splashiest Debut." Http://www.Bookpage.com/9601bp/fiction/snowfallingoncedars. Html (25 Jan. 2001). Rpt. in Novels for Students. Ed. Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

Guterson, David. Snow Falling On Cedars. 1st Vintage Contemporaries. New York: Vintage Books,

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