Prejudice And Discrimination In Snow Falling On Cedars

Part II is very interesting during chapter 6 when Dower presents studies conducted by psychologists and other scientists that suggest that the Japanese are mentally inferior to Americans. “By 1944, a considerable number of social and behavioral scientists had thus turned their attention to Japan…they agreed that…immaturity was a critical concept in understanding Japanese behavior.”(Page 131) In the last chapter of Part II dower alludes to the history of racism in America. The Chapter is called “Yellow, Red, and Black Men” which refers to the different groups that the United States oppressed because of the color of their skin. In this chapter Dower relates the racial topic from chapter 6 to the different races oppressed by the United States. In Part II dower uses the hypocrisy of the United States to point out that the United States is not as “perfect” as they make themselves appear.

Everyone has experienced prejudice sometime in their life. It has been an undeniable force in society ever since history was recorded. Even the most open-minded people and enlightened organizations can be blamed as being prejudice sometime or another. However, prejudice always takes its toll from these people who form opinions beforehand or without any facts. The novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, take place during a time in which Americans are prejudice towards Japanese people. David Guterson’s novel takes place several years after World War II when hatred towards the Japanese filled Americans’ hearts from the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. During the time period from 1940 to 1955 there was evidence of

Fighting a war against the oppression and persecution of a people, how hypocritical of the American government to harass and punish those based on their heritage. Magnifying the already existing dilemma of discrimination, the bombing of Pearl Harbor introduced Japanese-Americans to the harsh and unjust treatment they were forced to confront for a lifetime to come. Wakatsuki Ko, after thirty-five years of residence in the United States, was still prevented by law from becoming an American citizen.

This book according to Takaki clearly shows that, during the Second World War in 1940 America was a white man’s country. Responses on wartime to different ethnic and cultural communities are shown in this book. This ethnic group consists of the Mexicans, African Americans, Chinese, Philippines, Koreans, and Japanese Americans. Then finally analysis about the historic attack on Hiroshima is shown. This clearly shows the level of racism during that time. According to Takaki combined military services and war simultaneously opened the horizons while raising awareness. There was a racial slight gaining of economic independence when the black women left the whites kitchen for assembly lines.

The early 1940’s were tough times for many Japanese living in America. This is all due to the Japanese and American conflict in World War II, after Japan decided to bomb Pearl Harbor. After this incident many Japanese-Americans were discriminated against and were thought of as bad Japanese instead of the Americans they were. A lot of these Japanese-Americans were unfairly sent to internment camps in the United States. This is also true of the incidents that take place in the fictional novel Snow Falling On Cedars, by David Guterson.

The Japanese-American author, Julie Otsuka, wrote the book When the Emperor was Divine. She shares her relative and all Japanese Americans life story while suffering during World War II, in internment camps. She shares with us how her family lived before, during, and after the war. She also shares how the government took away six years of Japanese-American lives, falsely accusing them of helping the enemy. She explains in great detail their lives during the internment camp, the barbed wired fences, the armed guards, and the harsh temperatures. When they returned home from the war they did not know what to believe anymore. Either the Americans, which imprisoned them falsely, or the emperor who they have been told constantly not to believe, for the past six years imprisoned. Japanese-Americans endured a great setback, because of what they experienced being locked away by their own government.

In a community of “five thousand damp souls” (Guterson 5) as described by David Guterson in his novel, Snow Falling on Cedars. A community that concentrated a variety of ethnicity, among them was both Whites and Japanese. As a result of the racial differences, racism has came into existences and have impacted the life of both children and adult in that isolated island called San Piedro. It is responsible for the internment of Kabuo, Hatsue, and their families, the breakup of Hatsue and Ishmael, Kabuo's loss of his land, and perhaps for his indictment for murder.

This book simply mentions a few things such as Pearl Harbor, Mein Kampf and details of the war. At the beginning of each chapter, it gives a brief detail about Germany invading Poland and France. Also, mentions racism towards African Americans about fighting in the war. Another discussion, that was discussed in class was the atomic bombs being used in Japan. However, in the book, there was nothing about the war itself. It was solely used to explain what was going on in the background and gives an idea of how books were affected by the events. There are a few events that need to be

1. How does the author describe racism in America towards Japan in the Second World War?

Racism is the notion that one’s own ethnic stock is superior to that of someone else’s. Most all racism is as result of ignorance. Racism can range from a simple comment to make another human being feel inferior, to complex actions that make others feel unwelcome in society because of who they are. The theme of racism can be seen throughout literature. In the murder mystery novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson, many examples of wartime racism are evident.

Throughout the film ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’ the director Scott Hicks has used symbolism to convey a number of his ideas. He used the fog and snow to symbolise hidden secrets, the sea to represent life and death, and he used the Cedars to symbolise a place of secrecy and protection. By using these three symbols, Scott Hick’s ideas could be conveyed without anything being said at all.

In Heike Paul’s article “Old, New and ‘Neo” Immigrant Fictions in American Literature: The Immigrant presence n David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars and T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain Paul brings up several good arguments about David Guterson’s Novel Snow Falling on Cedars. A couple of arguments Paul uses are about racism throughout the novels as well as the snow. Paul explains the racism as a bad thing that rips a town apart. The snow represents a sense of innocence.

This quote portrays how the Japanese-Americans are thought to be of lower status than the whites of the island. It also shows the discrimination within the community. The people of Japanese descent get mistreated and have silent requirements that make them not equal to the whites. Such mistreatment leads to unfairness of Kabuo’s trial.

Fujitani does not solely describe the cruelty exhibited by the Japanese and the Americans; he includes positive measures that were taken by both as well. Fujitani claims that “A historically responsible and empirically sound critique of wartime racism in these two nation-state-based empires cannot simply deny their life-enhancing efforts, but must somehow account for the uneasy fit between what can only be recognized as their gross cruelty toward minority and colonial subjects and their apparent concern for the life, reproduction, welfare, and sometimes even happiness of these same peoples” (Fujitani 13). The paradox that exists is dutifully acknowledged as Japan and the United States are not treating the minority populations with complete respect, but consequently, respect them out of necessity.

The pages we had to read were from page 8 to 30 which were 3 Chapters, in these Chapters talked about Lorenzo Santillan, Cristian Arcega, and the history of the town.