Snow Falling On Cedars Analysis

David Guterson, in his novel entitled Snow Falling on Cedars, clearly illustrates the harsh and brutal impact of war on many of the central characters in the plot. The novel is set in 1954, on the fictitious Island of San Piedro and follows the trial of Kabuo Miyamoto (a Japanese-American man) accused of the murder of Carl Heine. War is a prominent theme in the text and the effects it has on individuals are vividly detailed by Guterson. Ishmael Chambers, Kabuo Miyamoto and Hatsue Miyamoto are all victims of wartime experience and are forced to battle both external and internal conflicts. In the aftermath of World War Two, these characters are left with underlying prejudices, pain, guilt, bitterness, doubt and altered views and perception of
Ishmael Chambers, is left deeply wounded both physically and emotionally due to his wartime experience. Hatsue describes Ishmael in his youth as having “a heart that is large” and being both “gentle and kind”. However, in the aftermath of war, he is transformed by his devastating experience, “the war his arm, the course of things, it had all made his heart much smaller”. As a 31 year old journalist, reporting on the trial of Kabuo, Ishmael is described as a cynical, bitter and lonely member of the community, “a strange bird to others, someone you cannot speak to”. However it becomes evident that Ishmael is a victim of war and has been drastically impacted on by his personal experiences, “…there was nevertheless this matter of the war – this matter of the arm he lost… he had a chip on his shoulder… It seemed to him that after the war, the world was thoroughly altered”. Guterson then vividly details Ishmael’s traumatic experience at war, “He had seen
In the courtroom, accused of the murder of Carl Heine, Kabuo appears as somewhat of an enigmatic character. He is depicted as a man showing no emotions, “not even a flicker of the eyes” as he sits proudly upright and rigid. Guterson later reveals to the reader that this character is a victim of his wartime experiences, suffering from a private guilt due to lives he killed during the course of the war. Kabuo’s enlistment was “a matter of honour”, in that he saw it “…necessary to demonstrate his loyalty to the United States”. However, Guterson makes it evident that Kabuo’s icy exterior is a direct result of the war, “He only saw darkness after the war, in the world and in his own soul…”. Kabuo feels a great sense of guilt for the lives he has taken, "He was a Buddhist and believed in the laws of karma, so it made sense to him that he might pay for his war murders: everything comes back to you, nothing is accidental."For this reason, Kabuo also felt that, “he did not deserve for one moment the happiness his family bought to him”. Guterson likens Kabuo’s guilt and sins to a mountain, “the mountain of his violent sins was too large to climb in this lifetime”. This metaphor paints a clear, vivid image in the reader’s mind of the size ofgulit that Kabuo faces and the sheer difficulty he has in coming to terms with his guilt. Kabuo’s wife Hatsue also faces difficult internal conflicts as a result of the