Snow Falling on Cedars

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Recommended: The stronger character analysis

Men with authority in Snow Falling on Cedars possess great power and can manipulate an outcome based on their own personal bias. Horace Whaley’s racist qualities emerge from their patriotism and experiences in war. Horace Whaley, a coroner, is a Caucasian American who served his country in war. His patriotism and experience in war allows him to become a close-minded and racist individual, “Horace had served as a medical officer for twenty months in the Pacific theater and had suffered in that period from sleep deprivation and from a generalized and perpetual tropical malaise that had rendered him, in his own mind, ineffective” (Guterson 46). After the morning recess, Horace Whaley swears softly on the courtroom bible and edges his name into the witness box. As he nestles in, preparing for his questions, the narrator provides an insight into Horace’s past. His involvement in the war as a medical officer had rendered him mentally unjust due to the constant recurring dead bodies that Horace had to experience in war. As a coroner in the geographically limited region of San Piedro, Horace’s contribution to the case is heavily weighted. Consequently, this causes the judicial system to become unbalanced, since men with great authority possess powerful involvement in a case that can dramatically influence the judge’s decision. The several psychological mishaps that Horace possess should render him unfit to cooperate as a viable witness, however, his statement is still accounted for. Guterson provides the reader with an insight to Horace’s past experiences, which allows the reader to become deeply involved in the character’s life. However, this insight serves as foreshadowing. The use of foreshadowing is intended to provide a slight look i... ... middle of paper ... ... Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Print. "Kendo." Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre . N.p., n.d. Web. 8 June 2014. . Lao , Mike . "JapanToday." Japan Today RSS. N.p., 14 Mar. 2014. Web. 7 June 2014. . "Myths Encyclopedia." Fruit in Mythology. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 June 2014. . Routledge, Clay . "Exploring the psychological motives of racism." More Than Mortal. N.p., 31 July 2010. Web. 30 June 2014. . Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Print.

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