True Meaning of Snow

David Guterson is the young, American author of Snow Falling on Cedars which heavily consists of human nature and human emotions. Snow Falling on Cedars, narrates the trial of a Japanese man accused of murdering a white man in the post-World War II era. Throughout this literary work, Guterson uses elements of nature: land, trees, water and especially snow, as literal and metaphorical tools to develop and resolve conflicts.

David Guterson uses the same aspects and characteristics of nature in two different ways. First he describes in visual detail the literal or actual effects that elements of nature have on the characters in the novel. But more importantly Guterson uses nature to convey substantial and symbolic meaning in the lives of the characters in the story.

One of the elements of nature that Guterson uses as a tool to develop the conflicts in Snow Falling on...
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