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About Me
- Mr. Dalton
- Mr. Dalton is an instructor in the Upper School at Beaufort Academy. He is inept at car repair and home or lawn maintanance of any sort, but is an accomplished philosopher. In his spare time he enjoys throwing darts while listening to old Duran Duran cassettes.
7 comments:
#1 - Did Hatsue really fall out of love with Ishmael? Or were there other reasons that caused her to break her ties with him?
#2 - This may just be one perspective, but it seems that at the beginning of the film, the audience favors one side of the court, but as the story progressed the other lawyer's side seemed good as the other turned bad. If this makes sense, why or why not does this happen?
#3 - Compare the parents of Ishmael with the parents of Hatsue, and the parents of killed Mr. Heine.
#4 - What do you think the jury would have said, if they weren't dismissed?
#5 - Discuss the meaning/importance of the title SNOW FALLING ON CEDARS.
1- Of all the things Ishmael could have thought of, laying on a beach somewhere in the pacific, why do you think he thought of Him and Hatsue together?
2- If you had been on the Jury, and of course assuming you didn't get the awesome power of flash-back-vision, how would you have voted on the case?
3- "I feel like a traveler descended for miles astounded by what I see. The same human fraility passed on from generation to generation. We hate one another, we are the victims of irrational fears of prejudice."
This film focuses alot on the white american community's pressure on the Japanese, but at the same time, there is more. What other irrational fears of prejudice can you pick up?
4- You know, I'm willing to go so far as to say there is a moment of irrational fear in each major and strong minor character with one exception. Can you find it all?
5- Do you think the prosecutor earnestly wanted to see Kazuo go to jail for racist motivations? Or was he just doing his job well?
1) What kind of deeper, symbolic meaning can you find behind Ishmael losing his arm?
2) What do you make of the cold, wintry setting during the trial?
3) Analyze the scene where Ishmael is laying on the beach and flashes back to him and Hatsue playing on the beach and find a dead fish. Relate Ishmael to the fish.
4) Does the tree that Ishmael and Hatsue hide out in have any deeper meaning? If yes, elaborate.
5) Do you think that Hatsue ever really got over Ishmael?
1. Snow Falling on Cedars aspires to chronicle the plight of Japanese-Americans during World War Two, but the story is told through as viewed through the eyes of the central, white character. Would the story have been stronger and more poignant if Ishmael had been reduced to a minor character, as opposed to the narrator and main character?
2. How did the film’s director deal with the issues presented by the challenge of adapting a novel to the screen?
3. What is the significance of the climate changes (the rain, the blizzard) throughout the film?
4. Snow Falling on Cedars shows various incidents of anti-Japanese prejudice in major and minor characters alike. What are the motivations for these prejudices and how do they vary from character to character?
5. Why is it that the German-American Heines do not face the same prejudices as the Japanese-Americans, including Kabuo Miyamoto, who actually fought against the Nazis?
1. Why do you think Ishmael helped Hatsue and Kabuo when their truck broke down during the snowstorm.
2. Why do you think Ishmael finally decided to help Kabuo Miyamoto in his trial, despite he hatred for the Japanese and his bitterness towards Hatsue for leaving him.
3. What do you think is the importance of the parade flashback, and the fact that the "Strawberry girl" is always a Japanese girl.
4. Why do you think the flashbacks are streamlined together, and there is no clear "Flash" to tell us when we switch between a flashback and the present time.
5. How is the movie similar to the story, To Kill A Mocking Bird, and how is it different?
1. The film takes great care in highlighting the silent observations of Ishmael’s mother as she watches her son struggle with his forbidden love. What is the significance of her silence? What does this reveal in the battle of societal pressures and the sympathy of a mother?
2. Snow Falling on Cedars opens in the middle of Kabuo Miyamoto's trial. What effect does the film create by withholding background information of the trial and introducing it in the form of flashbacks? Where else are critical revelations postponed?
3. Etta Heine displays sympathy towards the Japanese and reminds her husband of the friendship and loyalty they have to the Miyamotos. Her sympathy is shown even in the courtroom as she looks upon the family of the suspect. Why is it that her sympathy falters as she takes the stand in her testimony? In your opinion, do you believe the pressure and beliefs of the prosecutor influence her statement? Expand.
4. Do the issues raised in the plot transcend time and place and therefore affect the present, or is it depicting a part of history that has no direct bearing on contemporary society?
5. Determine the significance Hatsue and Etta have in the events that transpire, particularly how the story’s past pertains to its present time. How do Hatsue and Etta reflect the role that women have in their respective societies?
1. Why do you think hats and kazoo withheld important information from the police?
2. What was the intent of the lawyer of the family of the victim?
3. Do you think he was covering this trial as a professional or out of his own curiosity because of his relationship with hats?
4. How did the time period affect the overall feeling of the trial and the consensus of the people involved?
5. What was the relationship between the fisherman and kazoo?
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