Snow Falling on Cedars is not a story that one would typically relate themselves with. Sure they are plenty movies and stories out there in the world that share similar plotlines. Of two kids torn apart by something may it be fate, destiny or race. You could find dozens of books with inter-race relationships that had to struggle through to the end. However what made the relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue different was simply because it ended as an unrequited love. Hatsue had fallen out of love; she pushed it off as a memory of her childhood. However Ishmael is still so very tangled by her and of the war that he fought not long after his heart break.              

   Through the countless flashbacks we learn of the history and the ever hidden tensions between the two. They had not ended amiably; the two had ended through a letter, one that Ishmael would constantly look back to in pain.                

 Their relationship was forever condemned by Hatsue’s family who saw the ‘hakujin’ as a whole different type of people. Racial prejudices have been prominent through the history after the war and even before then. The war only caused deeper racial hatred, what would have originally been kept in the hidden was then prominently shown. Hatsue’s mother had dispised Hatsuo for tricking her to this foreign land where they both had to start all over. She had been persuaded by her own wishes to see the unknown but she grew bitter, however she still continues to care for her children. Her words stay true to what she believes and her age shows, her wisdom is in fact quite relatable. “You should learn to say nothing that will cause you regret. You should not say what is not in your heart Or what is only in your heart for a moment. But tou know this – silence is better.” Pg 201

Her upbringing shines through her words, much like how Hatsue was being brought up, Fujiko went through the same if not more rigorous. Like many of the women living in Japan at that time, they were taught to be the perfect wife. A wife that would take care of all the housework and welcome their husbands and children home. However perhaps much too much alike, they both share the same streak of superiority – the belief that their race would be better. 

Many of the advice that Fujiko gives to Hatsue is very relatable, much like how we should never say things that we don’t mean simply because we are overwhelmed by our emotions. Much like how Hastue turned down Ishmael when he had asked for her hand in marriage.

“The whites, you see, are tempted by their egos and have no means to exist. We Japanese, on the other hand, know our egos are nothing. We bend our egos, all of the time, and that is where we differ. That is the fundamental difference Hatsue. We bend out heads, we bow and are silent, because we understand that by ourselves, alone, we are nothing at all, dust in a strong wind, while the hakujin believes his aloneness is everything,, his separateness is the foundation of his existence. He seeks and grasps, seeks and grasps for his separateness, while we seek union with the Greater Life – you must see that these are distinct paths we are traveling, Hatsue, the hakujin and we Japanese.” Pg 201        

    Race had always been a problem; they were Japanese living in a white world. Far away from home and spoke little English, they were entirely dependant on hard physical labor alone. They share many similiarities to the Asian immigrants of the past and even of the present. Much like the Chinese workers that had worked on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Ones who had been treated as cheap labor and refused many rights that were offered to the White immigrants. As our society moves more and more towards globalization we slowly find that barriers like race that used to exist are slowly dissolving. That is because we, as a 1st and 2nd world country have gotten used to the multiculturalism. However should you go to a 3rd world country it would be like a step back in time, there is a difference, one that cannot be masked. People will treat you differently may it be because you are of a different race or simply because they know that you are different.  

 Although the story is supposed to be about Kabuo Miyamoto and his trial in the killing of Carl Heine. We do not see him much within the story other than how he would face his trial with honor and the few flashbacks of other people that included him. As the book progresses you slowly find that it is a tangled web of characters, they all interwine at some point. They all provide a view of the small island of San Piedro during that winter trial and the years preceeding it.                

The discussions in the group is inproving we are discussing more about the characters and how the flashbacks are relating to the storyline and how the past motivates their decisions.

The majority of the discussions focused on Ishmael and Hatsue’s past relationship motivated much of the story. We see through the eyes of Ishmael who still longs for what had been lost in the war. Also of how because of their relationship, Ishmael had hesitated in bringing forth the truth that would free the man who had stolen Hatsue from him. The story basically consisted on linear flashbacks seens that would explain what had happened in the past, but also allowed us to glimpse at what sort of thing motivated their decisions. Why Ishmael had taken up his fathers work after staying away in Seattle for all that time. Of why Hatsue chose to live a boy who loved her more than she loved him. 

Expanded my connections and what we have talked about in our discussions.

Snow Falling On Cedar Glogster

Snow Falling On Cedar Glogster

English Journal

                Snow Falling on Cedars is not a story that one would typically relate themselves with. Sure they are plenty movies and stories out there in the world that share similar plotlines. Of two kids torn apart by something may it be fate, destiny or race. You could find dozens of books with inter-race relationships that had to struggle through to the end. However what made the relationship between Ishmael and Hatsue different was simply because it ended as an unrequited love. Hatsue had fallen out of love; she pushed it off as a memory of her childhood. However Ishmael is still so very tangled by her and of the war that he fought not long after his heart break.

                Through the countless flashbacks we learn of the history and the ever hidden tensions between the two. They had not ended amiably; the two had ended through a letter, one that Ishmael would constantly look back to in pain.

                Their relationship was forever condemned by Hatsue’s family who saw the ‘hakujin’ as a whole different type of people. Racial prejudices have been prominent through the history after the war and even before then. The war only caused deeper racial hatred, what would have originally been kept in the hidden was then prominently shown. Hatsue’s mother had dispised Hatsuo for tricking her to this foreign land where they both had to start all over. She had been persuaded by her own wishes to see the unknown but she grew bitter, however she still continues to care for her children. Her words stay true to what she believes and her age shows, her wisdom is in fact quite relatable.

“You should learn to say nothing that will cause you regret. You should not say what is not in your heart

Or what is only in your heart for a moment. But tou know this – silence is better.” Pg 201

Her upbringing shines through her words, much like how Hatsue was being brought up, Fujiko went through the same if not more rigorous. Like many of the women living in Japan at that time, they were taught to be the perfect wife. A wife that would take care of all the housework and welcome their husbands and children home. However perhaps much too much alike, they both share the same streak of superiority – the belief that their race would be better.

Many of the advice that Fujiko gives to Hatsue is very relatable, much like how we should never say things that we don’t mean simply because we are overwhelmed by our emotions. Much like how Hastue turned down Ishmael when he had asked for her hand in marriage.

“The whites, you see, are tempted by their egos and have no means to exist. We Japanese, on the other hand, know our egos are nothing. We bend our egos, all of the time, and that is where we differ. That is the fundamental difference Hatsue. We bend out heads, we bow and are silent, because we understand that by ourselves, alone, we are nothing at all, dust in a strong wind, while the hakujin believes his aloneness is everything,, his separateness is the foundation of his existence. He seeks and grasps, seeks and grasps for his separateness, while we seek union with the Greater Life – you must see that these are distinct paths we are traveling, Hatsue, the hakujin and we Japanese.” Pg 201

                Race had always been a problem; they were Japanese living in a white world. Far away from home and spoke little English, they were entirely dependant on hard physical labor alone. They share many similiarities to the Asian immigrants of the past and even of the present. As our society moves more and more towards globalization we slowly find that barriers like race that used to exist are slowly dissolving. That is because we, as a 1^st and 2^nd world country have gotten used to the multiculturalism. However should you go to a 3^rd world country it would be like a step back in time, there is a difference, one that cannot be masked. People will treat you differently may it be because you are of a different race or simply because they know that you are different.

                Although the story is supposed to be about Kabuo Miyamoto and his trial in the killing of Carl Heine. We do not see him much within the story other than how he would face his trial with honor and the few flashbacks of other people that included him. As the book progresses you slowly find that it is a tangled web of characters, they all interwine at some point. They all provide a view of the small island of San Piedro during that winter trial and the years preceeding it.

               
The discussions in the group is inproving we are discussing more about the characters and how the flashbacks are relating to the storyline and how the past motivates their decisions.

Journal 3

English Journal 2 – Snow Falling on Cedar - Revised

Snow Falling on Cedars is a story with a slow start, but as the book progresses you begin to be able to link things together. Of the Miyamoto family history with the Heine family. How Ishmael Chamber and Hatsue Imada’s forbidden relationship had eventually turned out. Through the flashback story formatting, we learn through the memories of the characters. There was always tension between the residents of San Piedro and the Japanese who had settled there. Such could be seen from the Strawberry Festival and how the Strawberry Princess was basically “a human sacrifice who allowed the festivities to go forward with no uttered ill will” (pg78) No uttered ill will did not mean that there was no ill will at all. Over the years unspoken laws had set the people of different ethnicities apart from each other. “No law compelled them to take only these rear seats. They had done so instead because San Piedro required it of them without calling it a law” (pg75). Just because something is not discussed in the open it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Much like how the world is today, even if we were to try and deceive ourselves by never mention the horrors such as poverty, abuse, violence and war it doesn’t mean that it will magically have never existed. Racism exists, but it was shown even more after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, it was no longer simply feelings of being the ‘better’ race but rather all out hatred. “The fishermen felt, like most islanders, that this exiling of the Japanese was the right thing to do...there was war going on and that changed everything.” (pg79) These were people who were once neighbours, people who used to see each other every single day. But because of something the people couldn’t control, the people who worked so hard to try and forge ties together quickly crumbled. Whatever they had worked to build up was simply destroyed.

It was simply that simple racial difference that tore apart the budding romance of Ishmael and Hatsue. Mrs.Shigemura had always told Hatsue that she was going to marry a nice Japanese man. Also the reason why Hatsue was sent to Mrs.Shigemura “Her parents had sent Hatsue to Mrs.Shigemura with the intent that the girl would not forget that she was first and foremost Japanese.” (pg84). That all slowly pushed Hatsue into a spiral of confusion and guilt about her secret love. Even when they were just friends, you could still see how they would not behave closely around other people. “At school they were strangers for reasons unclear to him, though at the same time he understood it had to be that way because she was Japanese and he wasn’t” (pg98). Much like the world around us, we are not rid of racial barriers, there are still people out there that would much rather their children be friends with those of the same race rather than those not. Although the adults may have seen the two of them as confused children, the two of them believed in what they felt. Even though Hatsue had felt guilty for her lies to her mother, she continued on with her forbidden relationship. Simply because she could feel the

The story seems to have a focus around not violence or evil but rather the pain of separation and hidden tensions. Due to that there hasn’t been much for the group to discuss since the topics are often not related to our story. Adding the fact that the story has a slow start, there is even less for the group to discuss that are based on actual facts rather than speculations. Since the story is an alternation of flashback and courtroom scenes, much of what we have read up till now have yet to completely link to each other. Slowly we are learning about the island, its people and how the war had affected them. Like stated earlier the story is slowly progressing to fit more of the EQs but the group still hasn’t really found a basis for the discussion to begin with. The questions that we are told to choose from simply cannot prompt a good discussion from our group.

This version is better because I've built on what I previously written and put in more quotes.

Response

YOu have made some good connections in your writing and you have backed it up. I do sense your frustratin, but there is the sens e of destruction with what is happening in the world around and the treatnment of the indvicuals. There may not be violence but there are all the other elements. I will try and get to yoru group. I did warn you that it was a book that was off to a slow start. You are on the right track with your wirting.Keep up the good work.

English Journal 2 – Snow Falling on Cedar

As the book progresses you begin to be able to link things together. Of the Miyamoto family history with the Heine family. How Ishmael Chamber and Hatsue Imada’s forbidden relationship had eventually turned out. Through the flashback story formatting, we learn through the memories of the characters. There was always tension between the residents of San Piedro and the Japanese who had settled there. Such could be seen from the Strawberry Festival and how the Strawberry Princess was basically “a human sacrifice who allowed the festivities to go forward with no uttered ill will” (pg78) No uttered ill will did not mean that there was no ill will at all. Over the years unspoken laws had set the people of different ethnicity apart from each other. “No law compelled them to take only these rear seats. They had done so instead because San Piedro required it of them without calling it a law” (pg75). Just because something is not discussed in the open it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Much like how the world is today, even if we were to try and deceive ourselves by never mention the horrors such as poverty, abuse, violence and war it doesn’t mean that it will magically have never existed.


It was simply that simple racial difference that tore apart the budding romance of Ishmael and Hatsue. Mrs.Shigemura had always told Hatsue that she was going to marry a nice Japanese man. Also the reason why Hatsue was sent to Mrs.Shigemura “Her parents had sent Hatsue to Mrs.Shigemura with the intent that the girl would not forget that she was first and foremost Japanese.” (pg84). That all slowly pushed Hatsue into a spiral of confusion and guilt about her secret love. Even when they were just friends, you could still see how they would not behave closely around other people. “At school they were strangers for reasons unclear to him, though at the same time he understood it had to be that way because she was Japanese and he wasn’t” (pg98). Much like the world around us, we are not rid of racial barriers, there are still people out there that would much rather their children be friends with those of the same race rather than those not.


The story seems to have a focus around not violence or evil but rather the pain of separation and hidden tensions. Due to that there hasn’t been much for the group to discuss since the topics are often not related to our story. Adding the fact that the story has a slow start, there is even less for the group to discuss that are based on actual facts rather than speculations. Since the story is an alternation of flashback and courtroom scenes, much of what we have read up till now have yet to completely link to each other. Slowly we are learning about the island, its people and how the war had affected them.