Interpretations of the style and content of the book
1.
The novel Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson is an interesting mixture of different styles and topics.
The frame story deals with a murder trial on a small fictional American island called San Piedro Island. Kabuo Miyamoto, one of the main characters, is a fisherman who is accused of murder. The main story line is the solution of this case: who murdered Carl Heine, the victim, on his fishing boat? A typical question for a whodunit which in this case is answered by different flashbacks, full of metaphors and pictures.
This frame story is combined with lots of different story lines, so the book is really varied and interesting. It contains a poetic, even romantic love story, a fascinating analysis of the relations between Japanese and Americans and finally even a type of reflection on the War, Pearl Harbour, and its consequences on the lifes of Japanese in Americans. These topics are involved in the flashbacks and memories of the characters during the trial of Kabuo.
The title, Snow Falling on Cedars, is one of the main mysterious metaphors of the book, which creates a special feeling throughout the whole novel. The snow and the cedars, which can be found on the Island, will play an important role in the metaphoric language of Guterson.
The strawberry farmers on San Piedro Island are of different origins (there are lots of Japanese ).This fact and the strawberries are signs, too.
The internment of Japanese Americans and the strawberry fields of San Piedro Island will play an important role in the solution of the book.
The love story in this novel has its origin in the youth of the two main Characters Hatsue Miyamoto, the wife of Kabuo, and Ishmael Chambers a reporter. The relationship of these two characters will get the greatest mystery of the novel, which you can only solve if you read the whole fascinating book.
Other metaphors and well composed storylines can be found, too, but I only wanted to give some examples to make you curious!! :-)
© Christian