David Guterson

             David Guterson used many things he experienced in his life in his books and
             showed his beleifs in his books. An example of the is Snow Falling on Cedars. Drawing on his personal experience in the Pacific Northwest and eight years of careful research, Guterson vividly portrays the culture of San Piedro, a socially isolated island. The novel details how San Piedro's Japanese American residents, long the victims of unarticulated prejudice, find themselves at the center of a raging war hysteria in the 1940s. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States was swept with a raging war hysteria. More than a hundred thousand Japanese Americans, two thirds of them native born citizens, were branded potential traitors and herded into internment camps. It would be almost fifty years before the U. S. Government officially apologized for the violation of their civil rights. In 1954, the characters of Guterson's book still regard their Japanese neighbors with suspicion and hatred. Nine years after the war, Kabuo Miyamoto finds himself the focus of smoldering racial tensions when he is charged with murdering a popular local fisherman, Carl Heine. Guterson writes about "The San Piedro small town atmosphere in the 1950's and it is captured well."
             Guterson expresses his feelings in many ways throughout the book. racism pervades the whole trial. In his closing arguments, Alvin Hooks subtly appealing to their prejudice, exhorts the jury to look at Kabuo's face and do their duty as citizens of their community. In his closing arguments, Nels directly addressing the matter of prejudice, urges the jury to be objective.
             Ishmael tries to be as "morally meticulous" as Arthur was in his reporting, but his memories of the war make it difficult. Cynical and angry, Ishmael finds it difficult to like anyone or anything.
             Kabuo's trial begins on December 7, 1954, the thirteenth anniversary of Japan's surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although...

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David Guterson. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 04:21, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/71979.html