Snow Falling on Cedar - Essay Example

Analyze the book “Snow Falling on Cedar” Introduction The backdrop of the novel “Snow Falling on Cedar” is the Second World War. The novel negates war and presents a graphic description of the horror, squalor and brutality of war. The novelist also delves deep into the psychology of the war veterans and the war victims in portraying the interracial relationship. In this context, personal relationships are also explored. The graphic description of each individual has enabled to take an insight into the working of the mind. (Guterson,1) The racial pride followed by racial prejudice is the keynote of the novel. The protagonist of the novel, Ishmael Chambers is the veteran of the Second World War. He is physically handicapped because of the war wound, which has left him with an amputated arm.  His personal relationship with a local Japanese- American also ended abruptly. His pride is hurt and a prejudice is born out of it. Hatsue Imada is presently Kabuo’s wife who once shared a romantic relationship with Ishmael Chambers but broke off for reasons not known. Carl Heine was the local fisherman. These characters are central to the plot of the novel, explore the themes of prides of the whites, and prejudice against the people of the Japanese descent.  The whites resented the immigration of the Japanese but tolerated them for their hard work and economic profit. This is what we call the political economy where the superior race tolerates the inferior race for profit, (Leiman, 1-21). This kind of immigration makes room for the development of mixed culture and gives birth to the concept of ‘Hybridity’. Hybridity is the amalgamation of different races together and producing a new lineage (Murfin and ray, 279). Many filmmakers like Spencer Tracy in his movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” has further evolved this concept of interracial relationship. These kinds of relationships proceed towards global harmony but initially it has suffered many hindrances. (Richardson,1) Racial Discrimination and the dilemma of mixed culture are predominant in the novel and portrayed through interracial relationships. The story of the novel is set in the small and isolated island of San Piedro which symbolizes the apparent silence and the suppressed prejudice when two races of polar opposites are to dwell in the same place. Kabuo, a wartime veteran suffers from a guilty conscience. He is Japanese but he fought for the Americans during the Second World War. He laments killing his own fellow brothers and this sense of guilt demoralizes him. After the war, we find him confining only to the domestic front and passively accept his guilt. The interracial relationships are responsible for the creation of confusion regarding a person’s identity and divert the person from his racial commitment. On the other hand, Hatsue Miyamoto is torn between her Japanese identity and her desire to venture into a world without societal norms and racial prejudices. Does she succeed in overcoming the social barriers?  The answer will be probably no! The conflict between races in the novel apparently remains suppressed as all the people of San Piedro follow the ethics of silence and peace. They have entered into a verbal promise to reside in this island peacefully without any racial confrontation. The war lay bare the decades’ old grievances that remained in a dormant stage where the fight over the superiority of the racial identity came to the forefront. (Bloom, 13-94) According to a verbal agreement, it had been decided that between the elder Carl and Kabuo’s father, Zenhichi that Kabuo and his family would possess their land by paying the money in installments.  After the death of Carl’s father, his mother, Etta broke the agreement and sold the land to a white farmer. Etta could not tolerate that his husband’s land would pass into the hands of anyone who has descended from America. Carl is Kabuo’s childhood friend and so he with alacrity agreed to sell only one portion of the land. The interracial sentiments are so strong that even the childhood friendship cannot mend it. It was when Kabuo saved him from the dangers of the freak accident; Carl overcame his racial biasness and agreed to sell the land. However, on that fateful night, a freighter knocked down Carl’s boat and he met his end. Unfortunately, Kabuo was charged of killing Carl. Carl apprehended that it would not be possible for him to get a fair trial in the postwar anti-Japanese atmosphere. There was the “exploration of racism and the social commentary”. (Minds, 19) Ishmael was the only witness to Kabuo’s innocence. He initially refrained from giving the true account of the story as Kabuo married the woman whom he loved .He overcame his jealousy and saved Kabuo. If it was a public trial for Kabuo then it was a test for Ishmael’s conscience. (Haytock, 52-59) His private morality ultimately came to his aid.  Guterson in this novel has shown that interracial relationships do generate a kind of tension among the individuals. Prejudice is a common human emotion and a set of activities is bound to reinforce new spheres of prejudices. The characters living under the canopy of such biasness and resentment start internalizing them. Ishmael starts hating the Japanese during the war as he has developed a hatred for Hatsue for rejecting him. Carl also detests the Japanese because the war has made him part with his farm. In the text, there is a continuous struggle on the part of the characters to deal with these prejudices. The prejudices born out of cultural differences are the primal theme of the novel.  In this respect, the Cedar tree has become a symbol of reconciliation where the prejudices and the bias of the society do not operate. The tree is the only place for Ishmael and Hatsue to express their love for each other. However, the tree’s isolated existence prevents the couple from living to the fullest. Many a filmmaker laments over the consequences of the war and the violent attributes of the human race. They show how the marital race relations are affected by war. The war has always been taking toll on human lives. Movies like the “The Last Train from Madrid” (1937), “Blockade” (1938) highlight the squalor of war. (Huebner, 7) However, Leo Tolstoy has believed in the notion that war must be followed by peace. As he says when the forces of races come together, ‘…they collide’ they produce harmony’. (Tolstoy, 429) Swanson is of the view that war means ‘mass murder’ as it kills multitudes. (Swanson, 9) The novel under discussion ends with an optimistic note of realization that even a community ravaged by war can render justice through individual acts of selflessness. This will bridge the gap between races and will cater to interracial harmony. References 1. Bloom, Harold, David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedar, London: Infobase Publishing, 2004. 2. Guterson, David, Snow Falling on Cedar, New York: Vintage Books, 1995 3. Haytock, Anne, Jennifer, David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedar: A Reader’s Guide, New York: Continum Publishing Group. 2002 4. Huebner, Andrew, The Warrior Image: Soldiers in American Culture from the Second World War to the Vietnam Era, North Carolina: UNC Press, 2002 5. Leiman, Melvin, The Political economy of Racism, Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2010 6. Minds, Hungry, Cliff Notes: Snow Falling On Cedar, New York: Wiley Publishing Inc. 2000 7. Murfin, Ross and Supriya Ray, The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms, London: Bedford/ St Martins, 2009. 8. Richardson, Lane, Brenda, “Guess Who’s coming to Dinner:Celebrating Interethnic, Interfaith, and, Interracial Relationships”, kindle Edition, November 30, 2010 reviews/1885171412/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1 9. Swanson, David, War Is A Lie, New York: CharlotteVille, 2010 10. Tolstoy, Leo, War and Peace, London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2007 Read More