Snow Falling on Cedars

by David Guterson

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Chapters 12-22 Summary

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Ishmael's Consuming Bitterness

Guterson weaves a poignant tapestry of Ishmael's wartime saga, highlighted most strikingly by the grievous loss of his arm. This ordeal carved deep grooves of bitterness and resentment into Ishmael's spirit. Upon his return from the ravages of war, he occasionally glimpsed Hatsue, now joined in matrimony to Kabuo, whom she wed at Manzanar, alongside their children. Yet, instead of forging a new path forward, Ishmael allowed his bitterness to fester, consuming him entirely. As Kabuo's trial unfolds, Ishmael eyes the proceedings as a potential gateway back into Hatsue's life, driven by his lingering obsession.

Entangled in a Deal of Lost Dreams

As the trial delves deeper, secrets of a botched land agreement unravel. In the year 1934, Kabuo's father, Zenhichi, orchestrated a plan to acquire seven acres of lush strawberry fields from Carl Heine Sr. Due to laws barring foreign-born Japanese from citizenship—and consequently land ownership—Zenhichi and Carl Sr. devised a lease-to-own scheme that would see the land paid off by the time American-born Kabuo could claim it. Although Carl Sr. was an understanding soul, his wife, Etta, harbored disdain for the arrangement, viewing the Japanese as inferior.

When Japanese Americans were herded into internment camps, Carl Sr. reassured Zenhichi that there was no need to fret about the land. Yet, fate dealt a cruel hand when Carl Sr. passed away in 1944. With the final two payments on the land unmet, Etta sold the property to another party and returned Zenhichi's payments. Upon Kabuo's return, he found himself incensed by the betrayal and attempted to purchase the land from its new owner, who refused to sell.

Stripped of land, Kabuo turned to the sea, supporting his family as a fisherman. Years rolled by, and the new landowner, unable to tend the fields, passed the property back to Carl Jr. In a twist of fate, Kabuo approached Carl with hopes of purchasing the land, and Carl agreed to consider the proposal. This convoluted history of land dealings painted Kabuo as having a motive for murder, complicating his trial and casting shadows on his defense.

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