Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews April 6, 2023 March 30, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
full title Snow Falling on Cedars
author David Guterson
type of work Novel
genre Courtroom drama; historical novel; coming-of-age novel
language English
time and place written United States, 1984–1994
date of first publication 1994
publisher Harcourt Brace and Company
narrator An anonymous third-person narrator
point of view The narrator speaks in the third person and is omniscient, able to see all of the action, both past and present, and aware of what is going on inside the minds of all the characters. The narrator alternates between a straightforward narrative of events and moments of subjective narration from within the minds of various characters.
tone The narrator’s tone is serious and distant, though at times sympathetic to the characters.
tense Past, with flashbacks between the trial (December 1954) and various earlier events and interactions
setting (time) December 1954, with flashbacks
setting (place) San Piedro, a fictional island in Puget Sound, Washington; flashbacks include scenes in Seattle, Montana, California, Japan, the Tarawa Atoll in the South Pacific, and other places
protagonist Ishmael Chambers
major conflict Kabuo Miyamoto stands trial for the murder of Carl Heine, while Ishmael Chambers struggles to overcome his emotionally and physically shattered past.
rising action Kabuo’s arrest for murder; Hatsue’s request for Ishmael’s help; Ishmael’s bitterness about Hatsue’s rejection of him
climax Ishmael’s discovery, in Chapter 23, of evidence proving Kabuo’s innocence brings Ishmael’s conflicting desires to hurt and help Hatsue to a breaking point.
falling action Ishmael’s rereading of Hatsue’s letter as he sits in his father’s study; Ishmael’s decision to help Hatsue by coming forward with the evidence that exonerates Kabuo; Judge Fielding’s dismissal of the charges against Kabuo
themes The struggle between free will and chance; the cyclical nature of prejudice; the limits of knowledge
motifs The storm; the body; testimony
symbols The cedar tree; Arthur Chambers’s chair; the courthouse; Ishmael’s camera
foreshadowing The snowstorm brewing outside the courthouse at the beginning of the trial hints at the impersonal forces, such as prejudice, that will be at work during the trial. Arthur Chambers’s question to Ishmael about which facts the newspaper should print hints at the unreliability of people’s perceptions of the truth.
Please wait while we process your payment