Analysis : Chapters 19–21
This section provides new depth to the character of Susan
Marie Heine. Up to this point, we know little about Susan Marie.
Her muted reaction to the news of Carl’s death suggests that she
has a stoic outlook on life. Similarly, in saying that she always
knew that Carl’s death would happen like this one day, Susan Marie
demonstrates the same kind of passivity in the face of uncontrollable
forces that characterizes so many aspects of life on San Piedro.
Her relationship with Carl is based only on sexual attraction, so
she never fully understands her husband. She does not share the
wounds of war and hatred that have plagued Carl, Horace, Ishmael,
Kabuo, and others. Susan Marie respects Carl’s privacy about his
past but also accepts that their relationship must always be limited
as a result. Her ability to persevere after losing Carl suggests
that such limitations are the compromises that must be made to function
in a world governed by chance.
From Susan Marie’s testimony we learn that Carl faced
a dilemma in deciding whether to sell the land to Kabuo. In his
conversation with Susan Marie, Carl admitted his reluctance to sell
the land to a “Jap” like Kabuo. Rather than blame his mother for
cheating the Miyamotos and then sell the farm to others, Carl tacitly blamed
the Japanese for forcing him to abandon his land to fight in the
war. In this regard, Carl resembles Ishmael, who blames the Japanese
for Hatsue’s rejection of him.
The testimonies of Dr. Sterling and Sergeant Maples show
how the prosecution attempts to distort the evidence toward a guilty
verdict in two ways. Sergeant Maples’s testimony is largely insubstantial
and circumstantial, as Alvin Hooks attempts to twist the fact of Kabuo’s
martial-arts skill into a stereotype of Japanese men as violent
and murderous. His argument is not factual and attempts to play
solely on the jurors’ prejudices. The hematologist’s testimony, in
contrast, is based on fact, as the blood type found
on the gaff is indeed somewhat uncommon. However, Alvin Hooks fails
to mention that fully twenty percent of people of Japanese descent
have this blood type. When Nels Gudmundsson makes us aware of this
fact in his cross-examination, we realize that Hooks likely omits
it on purpose. He has reported the facts only selectively, attempting
to hide this bias behind the guise of science. In these testimonies,
then, we see that Kabuo faces not only sensationalism and stereotyping,
but also insidious attempts to contort even rational arguments in
a way that makes him appear guilty.
