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Reader's Log # 3 In his novel Snow Falling on Cedars, David Gutterson strives to convince readers that racial prejudices, on the part of White Americans, undermine the integrity of this nation. Even though, author was able to present us with the plausible portrayal of post-war reality, when citizens of Japanese descend were being treated with suspicion, across the country, he appears to be the person who does not quite understand the true essence of racism, as socio-political phenomenon. There are numerous times, throughout the book, when Gutterson comes up with rhetorical question: why did the residents of San Pedro act as the subtle racists towards Japanese-Americans? According to the author, there can be no logically based answer to this question.
Yet, such answer exists. The reading of a novel, from Chapter 11 to Chapter 16, makes it easier for us to find it. During the time when Kabul stays in jail, he never stops wondering about what makes White people to feel so much mistrust towards the citizens of Japanese origin. He does not understand why people of German descend in America were not being rounded up and sent to internment camps, the way it happened to Japanese, despite the fact that America was in war with Germany too. The answer to this could not be simpler the European immigrants in U. S.
were able to integrate into American society within a matter of generation, whereas Chinese or Japanese immigrants would instead embark on creating society within the society, once they were allowed to set foot on American soil. The existence of Chinatowns, in every large American city, proves the validity of this statement. Therefore, it would be wrong to suggest that American government, at the time, did not have valid reasons to treat Japanese immigrants and their descendants as fifth column. As written piece, Snow Falling on Cedars cannot have much of a literary value by definition, because novels plot is being used by Gutterson to promote his political agenda. One does not have to be a genius to understand that this agenda consists of instilling White Americans with a sense of historical guilt.
Apparently, author is more of a politician than a writer. This is why writing novels can hardly be thought of as Gutterson's natural calling.
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Research essay sample on Snow Falling On Cedars Japanese Immigrants
