In what ways does the writer develop tension and mystery in the opening chapters of Snow Falling On Cedars?

Authors Avatar

Becci Payne 12JDB                01/05/02

In what ways does the writer develop tension and mystery in the opening chapters of Snow Falling On Cedars?

The author creates tension and mystery in many different ways during the opening chapters. The first line of the novel creates mystery straight away: ‘The accused man, Kabuo Miyamoto’, the reader is not given any indication of the charge against him or what he has been accused of and so immediately questions arise in the readers mind. It is not until the next paragraph we find what he is on trial for. Guterson cleverly withholds certain facts such as this throughout the novel to keep us interested, for example we become aware in Chapter 5 that Carl Heine’s cause of death was by drowning, however, we are also told that he had a wound on the head but not informed how or why.

 Kabuo Miyamoto is described as ‘sat proudly upright with rigid grace’, ‘Kabuo’s features were smooth and angular’. This character description is of great consequence because of the author’s method of manipulating language, which poses questions to us like, why does Kabuo seem to be so proud and unmoved by the trial? Has he got something to hide?  Subtle references are also used to create mystery, gill-netters are said to pass their nights in silence, which is also a metaphor for what a murderer would do.  

Join now!

Also in the opening chapter we come by the first sign of Guterson’s use of pathetic fallacy through the weather and the atmosphere during the trial. It is snowing when the trial takes place and the ‘furious, wind-whipped flakes’ represent what is going on inside the courtroom and the tension, which is occurring. The bleak, gloomy weather indicates the character’s moods during the court case. It brings us closer to understanding how the characters are feeling.

We also become aware of the claustrophobia of the room through the technique in which the ambience of the courtroom is described: ...

This is a preview of the whole essay