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Dallis Pike
ENG 230
Dr. Carole Clark Papper
5/5/2006
Pluralism in American Literature: An Obscure Blizzard in Snow Falling On Cedars
American society, much to the chagrin of social conservatives, continues to
change day by day—and in ways that may not be so immediately apparent. While
America has always been a nation founded by colonists, and fed by immigrants from
many foreign lands, there has been this notion that there is only one “American” way to
be, and that America was always “that” even before the Mayflower—the colonists, who’s
successors are now our political leaders, thought they were willed by divinity or simply
deserved to found a society of their sole authorship.
However, the stark reality of it is, American society is the result of the collision of
many cultures and authors, and there never was just one way to “be” in America—and
there never will. The colonists all had different reasons for coming over and settling in
the areas they did, difference in regional custom and philosophy is what caused the Civil
War and eventually the Civil Rights movement. Currently, our society is once again
straining against the myth of singularity and reality of pluralism. Recent protests of
immigrants and migrant workers, demonstrating in the tens of thousands in our major
cities is just one of the ways in which members of our social fabric are asserting the need
for their different ways of being to be accepted. One arena, however, usually goes
unnoticed (and therefore uncommented) by our news media, political leaders, social
singularists, and the average member of the American citizenry: the pluralism plainly
evident in our literature.
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An excellent example, of this pluralism is David Guterson’s novel, Snow Falling
On Cedars originally published in 1995. In the novel, Guterson tackles, among other
issues, the diversity in American society, particularly on the West Coast, during the
1940’s and 50’s. Guterson brilliantly uses the presence of Nisei or second-generation
Japanese-Americans and their interactions with the local White population on San Piedro
Island just a few miles from Puget Sound in Washington State to explore the theme of
diversity—and then by using and sometimes breaking the stereotypes of Whites and Nisei
in his characters makes an effective appeal for greater understanding of the “other” in
American society—in other words an appeal for pluralism.
The novel starts on a snowy morning in 1954, as a Nisei man awaits trial for
murdering a local fisherman. Right on the first page of the novel, Guterson begins
exploring the impressions of Nisei to their white counterparts when discussing the
appearance of Kabuo Miyamoto through the eyes of the gallery members (whites)
observing the trial. One stereotype held against Japanese-Americans is that they have
“inscrutable face[s and] the noncommittal answers…so that the stereotype of the shy,
reserved Japanese in ambiguous social situations is often an accurate one (Kitano in
Johnson 456).” Similarly sentiments have been found in research done in education as
well, where Asian-American students have been described as “stoic, sneaky, and sly
(Kim 2).” Guterson injects this stereotype at the very beginning, “…Kabuo Miyamoto,
sat proudly up-right with a rigid grace…the posture of a man who has detached himself
insofar as this is possible at his own trial. Some in the gallery would later say that this
stillness suggested a disdain for the proceedings; others felt certain it veiled a fear of the
verdict that was to come (Guterson 3).” By describing Kabuo as “detached” and
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suggestedly disdainful, points to the “reservedness” found in much of the social research
in Nisei-White Relations. Guterson also inserts a reference to the “inscrutable face”
many Whites observe as the indictment is read in court: “In the face of the charge that
had been leveled against him he sat with his dark eyes trained straight ahead and did not
appear moved at all.”
It is only natural, when different populations move into a now-shared area, that
conflicts arise—it is also only natural that members from the two populations to form
tight, intimate bonds with one another—even though the rest of either group may not
approve. As the novel progresses, we find that the local reporter, Ishmael Chambers in
his childhood had such a bond with Hatsue Imada, now Kabuo’s wife. During this
relationship both Hatsue and Ishmael discussed the numerous stereotypes and
impressions their group members have of the other. Perhaps the most notable stereotype
explored was the simple impression that their relationship would not be approved by the
others of either group, “’Do you think this is wrong? she asked. ‘Other people do,’ said
Ishmael. ‘Your friends would,’ he added. ‘And your parents.’ ‘So would yours,’ said
Hatsue,” (112). Much of the disdain on the part of the whites comes from the idea that
the Japanese are too reserved and furtive—suspicious; while the disdain for such
relationships on the Nisei end were a result of the White’s overbearingness. Evidenced,
for instance, in a brief passage in the Rafu Shimpo a pre-WWII Japanese-American
publication: “The Rafu Shimpo expressed its gratitude to the Issei (first generation
Japanese) for remaining in the United States despite the ‘oppression from the hakujin
[white persons] and the depression of the time,’” (Kurashige 1600). In addition, many
Japanese-Americans viewed the Whites as “loud dominant, forceful, overt,” (Johnson
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460). Hatsue’s mother, Fujiko, expresses some of these concerns shortly after her
husband has been removed by the FBI to one of the infamous internment camps: “The
events of the last two months should teach them something about the darkness in the
hearts of the hakujin…” (Guterson 200). This is a direct reference to the domineering
and oppressiveness that that Nisei and other Japanese-Americans have reported about
whites in social research—making it a Nisei stereotype of the white community. This
stereotype may be somewhat justified: The Whites of the time both in the novel and in
real-life were overtly hostile to the Japanese-Americans, which was easily apparent in the
practice of internment, where entire populations of Nisei and their parents were re-located
to concentration camps in the American interior. The whites in the novel, writing to the
Chambers’ newspaper immediately after Pearl Harbor articulated the sentiment after the
paper attempted to call for rationality on the part of all San Piedro inhabitants: “ ‘The
Japs are the enemy’, wrote Herbert Langlie. ‘Your newspaper is an insult to all White
Americans who have pledged themselves to purge this menace from our midst,
‘(Guterson 192).”
Indeed, another aspect of the stereotypes of the Japanese-Americans affecting the
two young lovers in the book was the idea that Japanese-Americans perpetuate
Japaneseness above all other things—teaching Japanese traditions to children and
discouraging exogamy. This has been noted is social research, as well as the book.
Research Eric Woodrum notes that Shushin instruction, which teaches “proper (Japanese)
behavior” occurred in about 68% of Nisei (Woodrum 161), and exogamy for Nisei while
compared to Sansei or third generation Japanese was much lower ( 8% Nisei compared to
34% Sansei—Woodrum 159). This idea of Shushin is also referenced in the book.
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“Hatsue…explained to him that her emotional reserve was something that she couldn’t
help. She had been carefully trained by her upbringing, she said, to avoid effusive
displays of feeling, but this did not mean her heart was shallow, (Guterson 172). By
using the word “trained by her upbringing” he is most probably referring to the formal
instruction of Shushin—he also includes another reference to the aloofness observed by
Whites when he writes “avoid[ing] effusive displays of feeling” which parallels closely
with the reservedness noted in the Nisei stereotyping of Kabuo. Also, intimate
relationships between Nisei and Whites are discouraged by Hatsue’s mother—she
attempted to break them up herself by writing Ishmael’s parents before deciding Hatsue
should simply right him personally and end the matter. The Woodrum real-world
statistics seem to suggest this was quite commonplace for Hatsue’s generation: “That
afternoon she sat in the mess hall and wrote her own letter addressed to the parents of the
boy Ishmael Chambers…she revealed to them the contents of the letter their son and had
written to her daughter. Her daughter, she said, would not be writing back, now or at any
time in the future. Whatever had been between them was over and she apologized for her
daughter’s role in it… (Guterson 229).”
Indeed, relationships were discouraged between the two groups—even as late as
the 1960’s white scholars wrote condemning the revitalization of bilingualism (speaking
two languages, as with the Nisei who spoke both English and Japanese), and indeed of
pluralism between any two groups itself: “Indeed, up until the 1960s bilingualism was
viewed as a disability in popular and academic circles alike, (Bayley 275).”
As can be see, Guterson touches upon the most common and basic of Nisei and
White stereotypes—the Nisei are quiet, reserved, and aloof—suspicious of Whites, while
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the domineering nature and racist separatism of the Whites is clearly evident as well. Up
until now we have discussed how the characters in the novel follow these stereotypes,
however, Pluralist literature does not derive its message of acceptance from the portrayal
of stereotypes, but rather, from how they are broken—and in keeping with this relatively
new lens of literature, we find that Guterson, deliberately makes his three main
characters, Ishmael, Hatsue, and Kabuo break the stereotypes given them.
First, a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the Issei’s assets were
frozen and the Imada’s (Hatsue’s family) where running out of money, Ishmael breaks
the stereotype of the “domineering and dark” hakujin: “’I have twenty dollars from
picking season,’ said Ishmael. ‘You can have all of it—you can just have it. I’ll bring it
to school in the morning,’ (Guterson 185). The generosity that Ishmael demonstrates,
blatantly clashes with the impression the Nisei have of the Whites on San Piedro—it is
indeed a very generous gesture as twenty dollars was a lot of money in the 1940’s, plus
the way Ishmael says he has “it from the picking season” suggests he has no other way of
earning money—and that twenty dollars is therefore all he has.
Hatsue, too, breaks the stereotype given her. The first most obvious way that she
does this is by engaging in an intimate relationship with Ishmael in the first place. As has
been demonstrated before, the popular opinion of Hatsue’s mother, real-world Nisei
society, and that of the Whites is against that kind of interracial relationship—as is
evidenced during the discussion Ishmael and Hatsue have when he asks her if what they
are doing is “wrong” and she says “No” but they both agree that everyone else would
think that it was some sort of failing on their part (112). Hatsue also breaks several of the
aforementioned stereotypes during a discussion with her mother prior to the letter
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incident. Since many Nisei underwent shushin training, and stereotyped that behavior as
being part of the natural aloofness, many observers believed that the Japanese have no
interest in alternate ways of being herself, however, Hatsue contradicts that stereotype in
that discussion: “These people…are the ones who bombed Pearl Harbor. If they’re so
ready to bend and bow, then what are they doing attacking…and taking over other
countries? I don’t feel I’m part of them…I’m part of here...I don’t want to be Japanese!
(Guterson 201).”
Finally, Kabuo too, breaks the typical Japanese stereotyping. In the beginning of
the novel, aligned with social research, we saw Kabuo as the “inscrutable” and aloof
Nisei man, however we find that in the final pages of the novel, that Kabuo is a man
capable of emotional expression after Ishmael finds the evidence that clears him: “The
accused man himself was set free immediately and walked out of hi cell...kissed his wife
for a long time. Ishmael Chambers took a photograph of this; he watched their kiss
through the viewfinder.” As we can see, contrary to the stereotype, Kabuo and Hatsue
both are capable of “effusive” outpouring of emotion, in this case affection—thus
shattering the aloofness that many hold to be true of Nisei.
As with any work of Pluralistic literature, the author works to set up the
stereotypes of different peoples, break them, and then use that shattered impression to get
at the “truth”: that everyone is basically human and should be accepted. In this story we
see how the mutual racism is broken by Hatsue’s and Ishmael’s early relationship, we see
how Ishmael is not the “dark hearted” hakujin Hatsue’s mother thinks he is—and is
generous to his love as any lover would be—and that Kabuo is no a man of iron, and
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shows great emotion in the appropriate time when he is acquitted of the charges against
him—a very emotional moment for anyone.
Besides these interpretations, there are also explicit references to pluralistic
philosophy in the novel as well. The aforementioned case where Hatsue tells her mother
that she doesn’t want to be Japanese, and insists that she is “part of here” suggests that
she sees herself, in that moment, as an ingredient in the melting pot as it here. She’s a
natural variety of something essentially human, and she doesn’t want to be Japanese,
which she sees as so foreign by being apparently hypocritical (bending and bowing and
then attacking others).
Ishmaels too, exhibits the most cardinal signs of pluralism. When Hatsue
questions the morality of their interracial relationship, Ishmael replies “How can this be
evil?...It’s the world that’s evil, Hatsue…don’t pay it any mind, (175).” Ishmael
basically sums up the pluralist stance: If one can’t accept another way of being (because
it is all essentially the same) then that is immoral—and those who can should not pay any
attention to the messages to the contrary. Another theme apparent in some pluralists is
“colorblindness” or the simple denial that people are somehow different based on their
superficial features. This is again found in the character Ishmael when Hatsue is
panicking about how the bombing raid on Pearl Harbor will affect her family. “’Look at
my face…my face is the face of the people who did it…we’re going to have trouble,’
‘Wait a minute,’ said Ishmael. ‘You’re not Japanese. You’re—‘(186).” Ironically, by
denying that Hatsue is Japanese he takes away that which has separated her from him
superficially—by having him stop mid-sentence Guterson denies Hatsue any specific
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alternate identity too (like “American”) meaning that Hatsue is stripped down to the most
bear: We can only assume that she is human.
Finally, the most apparent and symbolic representation of the central idea of
pluralism, that superficial differences should prevent us from accepting the “other”
because we are all, deep down, essentially the same, is the metaphorical discussion young
Hatsue and Ishmael have about the ocean: “’Oceans don’t mix,’ said Hatsue. ‘They’re
different temperatures. They have different amounts of salt.’ ‘They mix underneath, said
Ishmael. ‘It’s all really just one ocean,’ (97).” Here, the ocean can be said to be an
metaphor for race: Many racists say that races “don’t mix” paralleling Hatsue’s language,
she then goes onto to explain superficial reasons why they can’t like temperature and salt,
and Ishmael gives the pluralist reply—travel deep enough past the rays of the sun and the
currents, the ocean becomes essentially just one temperature and have the same amount
of salt, thus blending indefinitely with every other body of sea water. The reference to
salt is also significant: Salt can be a reference to wit or flamboyance, and by coincidence
Nisei and Whites are stereotyped to have different amounts of this quality (Japanese have
less flamboyance or “salt” whereas whites are seen to have more) Guterson picked his
analogy well, as the language and expression mirror exactly that of the circumstances of
his setting and main characters to promote pluralism.
Even though the interracial relationship between Hatsue and Ishmael doesn’t
work out, it isn’t important to the message of the book, in fact, it underscores it.
Ishmael’s suffering would not occur simply had the society around him been accepting of
their relationship—plus the way that Guterson refutes the stereotyped conduct of his
characters demonstrates their underlying humanity.
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It is now plain to see that Guterson’s shattering of racial stereotypes, which
promote the underlying humanity of his characters, especially when taken in
consideration with the symbolism, parallel closely the message of pluralists—that the
acceptance of the “other” is needed to avoid much heartache in our diverse society. It is
this message that the various members of American sub-cultures attempt to express on a
daily basis—the news media uses these activist’s altruism to make money, and some of
our leaders use the superficial differences fuel suspicion as a means to gain office or
remain popular with a certain sub-culture. However, in works of literature such as
Guterson’s acclaimed novel, we find that it is an environment where the messages cannot
be distorted so easily by those who would see it repressed. The English discipline would
do well to promote the teaching explicit development of the Pluralistic lens in American
literature, as it did for Gender Criticism in decades past, as a means to celebrate and
promote tolerance rather than difference in the next generation of our country’s educated
elite—and perhaps we would not have to live in a world where innocents are persecuted
because of their skin color or heritage or where Ishmael Chambers suffers because people
cannot accept superficial differences in their neighbors.
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Works Cited
Bayley, Robert. Language in the USA. Ed. Edward Finegan and John R. Rickford. 2nd ed. Vol.
3. United Kingdom: Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004. 268-289.
Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. 1st Vintage Contemporaries ed. New York: Random
House, 1995.
Johnson, Colleen L., and Frank A. Johnson. "Interaction Rules and Ethnicity: the Japanese and
Caucasians in Honolulu." Social Forces 54 (1975): 452-466. JSTOR. 4 May 2006.
Kim, Angela, and Christine J. Yeh. "Stereotypes of Asian American Students." ERIC Digest
(2002). ERIC Database. 4 May 2006.
Kurashige, Lon. "The Problem of Biculturalism: Japanese American Identity and Festival Before
World War II." The Journal of American History 86 (2000): 1632-1654. JSTOR. 4 May
2006.
Woodrum, Eric. "An Assessment of Japanese American Assimilation, Pluralism, and
Subordination." The American Journal of Sociology 87 (1981): 157-169. JSTOR. 4 May
2006.