Essay

     At some point in their life, people have read a book where the death of a person, or anything else, expresses the main point of the whole book or suggests what the main point is about. Such as in the book Snow Falling on Cedars. The death of Carl Heine is what the whole book is based on, what every significant action revolves around. His death really shows the racism that is portrayed in the story.

        In Snow Falling on Cedars, the death of Carl Heine symbolizes the racism that is happening on this island of San Piedro. Carl Heine was a caucasian male who was a respected war veteran, and he was murdered by a Japanese-American fisherman, in which racism had to do a major part in it. Throughout the story, all the things that happen seem to be because of the murder of Carl Heine, the reasoning for it all.

      The significance of the title, Snow Falling on Cedars, basically just defines the meaning of the season and the setting around the time of the trial of Carl Heine's killer, Kabuo Miyamoto. It mentions the heavy snowfall surrounding and impeding, which obviously shows what season it probably is. As far as the cedar trees, that is where many secrecies are held, due to the fact that one of the was big and hollow.

      While you continue to read the book, you will find out how much the death had to do with the whole plot of the book and you will realize the powerful meaning behind it. When David Guterson was writing this, I think he wanted to prove a point, it's just one of those things though where you have to read to find out. Racism is strong in many countries and as shown in the book, it's not always a good thing, but sometimes there are things in life that we just don't understand....and sometimes never will.

Thesis

The death of Carl Heine is what the whole book is based on, what every significant action revolves around. His death really shows the racism that is portrayed.

Prompt

The most important themes in literature are sometimes developed in scenes in which a death or deaths take place. Choose a novel or play and write a well-organized essay in which you show how a specific death scene helps to illuminate the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid mere plot summary.

A movie!

Of course, like most award winning books, Snow Falling on Cedars is also a movie! It was released in 1999 and was directed by Scott Hicks. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography, nominated for a Golden Trailer award, and also won Best Cinematography awards from the Chicago Film Critics Association and Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association.

The Heart

"The heart of any other, because it had a will, would remain forever mysterious." I'm not sure why, but I absolutely loved this quote. To me this quote really made the whole ending of the book. I don't quite get what the meaning of it is, but I like the way it just seems so powerful. It really stood out to me, and it should for every other person that reads and/or has read this book.

Travesty

"I have to think it's a travesty. That they arrested him because he's Japanese." I didn't really pay attention to this quote when I read it, but when I looked back at it, it made me wonder what the word travesty meant...so I looked it up. Supposedly it's any grotesque or debased imitation. I also noticed that it talks about racism, which caught my eye because that's one of the main points of the book.

Humankind

"He loved humankind dearly and with all his heart, but he disliked most human beings." When I read this quote, It reminded me about just how much this applies to most people, they love humankind, but when it comes to loving other people, it's hard for some of them because they are disrespectful all the time towards others, and sometimes themselves even.

Why?

What I want to know is why somebody would write a book like this. It's really....interesting, I guess you would call it. I mean it's a book that talks about Japanese-American fishermen, strawberry farmers, and it's based on an island in a place that i've never heard of, Puget Sound, which is where Guterson was born.

Not sure...

To be honest, when I first read about this book, I thought it would be interesting and good. I must say that it's not too bad of a book...not completely what I expected, but it kept me drawn into it.
Would I recommend it? Yea possibly, it just all depends on what type of person you are and what type of books you like to read.

Publication

The only year that Snow Falling on Cedars was published was in 1994 on September the 12th. Had Snow Falling on Cedars been written and published in earlier years, I imagine that it would've been just as good as it was in 1994 and now. There might have been a little bit more detail to things though if it was published in earlier years.