52 pages • 1 hour read
David GutersonSnow Falling on Cedars
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1994A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Hollow Cedar Tree
Content Warning: This guide references violence, combat, and racial prejudice.
Cedar trees feature prominently in the novel’s setting, covering the landscape of San Piedro Island. The inclusion of the trees in the title prepares readers for the cedar’s significance. The cedar tree is one with many uses, as evidenced by the prominence of the lumber industry throughout the Pacific Northwest. In this way, the tree is an important part of the economy, symbolizing prosperity and success. In the novel, however, cedars create an atmosphere of warmth and inclusion, as if they are sheltering and protecting the citizens of the island. Indeed, they are an important fixture as the three central characters—Ishmael, Hatsue, and Kabuo—recall scenes from their childhoods.
It is the hollow cedar, however, that proves instrumental in drawing Ishmael and Hatsue together. When Hatsue first invites Ishmael to join her in the hollow tree, she is symbolically inviting him to become better acquainted with her. It is there that their relationship shifts from one of casual friendship to a romantic one that includes physical intimacy. Importantly, the tree provides a secret location in which to hide Hatsue and Ishmael, thus keeping their relationship unknown from all others. In public, they ignore one another so as not to make their relationship known. However, in the confines of the tree, they are free to be together. Likewise, much can be made of the hollowness of the tree—it parallels the way in which Ishmael finds Hatsue to be inscrutable, her true emotions difficult to discern as if she is, in truth, empty of feelings for him. This contrasts with Ishmael himself, who is very certain of the love he harbors for Hatsue. In the end, because Hatsue will not allow their relationship to exist outside of the cedar tree, it must end.
Snow and Fog
The presence of snow is immediately conveyed through both the novel’s title and the description of the snowfall in the opening chapter. Initially, the falling snow sets a serene and calm mood, contrasting the atmosphere both of the courtroom and of the jail cell in which Kabuo has been held. It establishes the beauty and purity of the novel’s setting, conveying the attraction of the island to its residents. As the snow begins to cover the town, however, it becomes reminiscent of the fog that set in on the night of Carl Heine’s death. Fog obscures one’s vision, making it difficult to see—in this way, the fog is symbolic of the way the truth is obscured throughout the novel. The exact nature of Heine’s death is unknown, obscured from the eyes of those investigating it in the same way the fog obscures and hides objects.
As the plot unfolds, the snow shifts from a lovely sight to a dangerous storm. The snow, as it increases in quantity, causes car accidents and destruction—taking down trees and damaging electrical lines so that the power is cut throughout the town. The snow, then, becomes an obstacle to the trial, as citizens have greater difficulty traveling to and from the courthouse. As the snow prevents the ferries from operating, too, it heightens the isolation of the island, quite literally trapping both residents and jury members from the mainland.
Unexpectedly, however, the snow provides a boon to Kabuo’s freedom when Ishmael seeks out records of past snowstorms for a story for the newspaper. It is via this research that he stumbles upon the report that proves a freighter passed near Heine’s boat on the night of Carl’s death, thus exonerating Kabuo. In the end, the snow is complex and multifaceted in its symbolism.
The Seven Acres
At the heart of the murder trial is the seven acres of land Kabuo’s father purchased from Carl Heine’s father: Kabuo’s desire for this land is regarded as the motive to murder Carl. The seven acres are a rather small fraction of the strawberry farm owned by Carl’s father. He willingly sells the land because, as he explains to his wife, it is of lesser quality than the surrounding area, thus producing a smaller yield. Arguably, Carl’s mother prevents Kabuo from reclaiming the land out of spite for his being Japanese; she knew that Kabuo’s father attempted to pay off the debt outright before his concentration, but her husband refused, ensuring Miyamoto that the land would still be his after the war.
Kabuo is determined to reclaim ownership of this parcel of land, not because it is of high quality, but because the seven acres are symbolic of his family’s plight as Japanese Americans. Initially, it was illegal for Japanese immigrants to own land, and finally obtaining land symbolizes the progress and strides such immigrants have accomplished in not only fulfilling their dreams but in being regarded as equals to natural-born citizens. The land represents their hard work, and its fruits are symbolic of the family’s achieving its goal. For Kabuo, obtaining the land is a matter of reclaiming what is rightfully his and his parents. He recognizes the way in which Etta Heine has intentionally prevented him from his rightful claim out of her racist beliefs. However, he seeks to obtain the land honestly and fairly so that nothing ill or untoward can be said of Kabuo or his family. In this way, he maintains the respectability and honor of his family.
