Analysis of the Use of Weather in the Novel by E. Gatherson

In the novel there are other places where the weather appears to be connected to the way the court proceedings are going. "The noise of creatures was not so much muffled as halted". This impression creates the feeling that time has stopped. The main protagonists are in the courtroom, which seems to be a world apart, and the rest of the world seems to have come to a standstill while the trial is going on, away from the storm.

At the end of the story, when things are about to be resolved, "the storm has passed" and the streets are described as "snow-covered".

This more positive weather image when Cabuo is about to be released is another instance of a pathetic delusion showing positive weather and a positive, hope-filled mood of the characters.

The reader learns about the feud between the Miyamotos and the Heines. They are told that it originates from seven acres of land, which Kabuo wants to regain for his family as he feels it is rightly his.

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Part way through the novel Guterson describes how "The snowfall obliterated the borders between the fields and made Kabuo Miyamoto's long-cherished seven acres indistinguishable from the land that surrounded them.

" He also goes on to say that "All human claims to the landscape were superseded, made null and void by the snow." This is ironic because the trial is deep-rooted in the seven acres and the accompanying feud. This shows the power of the weather and how it links with the trial.

The weather is sometimes used by Guterson to show the reader a different side to a particular character. At the beginning of the novel Kabuo is shown as a very cold, hard man through the way he is portrayed. The reader is told how "Kabuo showed nothing- not even a flicker of the eyes." In this way the reader is already beginning to build up a picture of him. This is followed; a few pages on by a different portrayal of Kabuo, showing a softer side to him which questions the opinion already partly formed in the mind of the reader. Guterson describes the snowfall, using alliteration to describe its "wind-whipped flakes". Kabuo watches this and it strikes him as "infinitely beautiful". This moment changes the picture of Kabuo and shows there is more to him than first shown by Guterson.

Guterson often uses all the senses. He describes how Ishmael sees "billions of snowflakes," and can hear the wind "whistling". This description gives the reader a strong image of the scene. He also uses metaphors for the same reason such as when he describes the sky as a "drab ribbon overhead". These techniques, through the use of the weather add description and imagery to the passages he writes to contrast the factual parts within the novel.

Guterson uses the environment many times throughout the novel often as a symbol. The woods are a key place in Hatsue and Ishmael's story. They are often described and hold many memories for both characters. "As far back as she could recall the content of her days there had always been this silent forest which retained for her its mystery." The forest is a frequented setting within the novel. It symbolises a place away from the prejudice, an escape for Ishmael and Hatsue where they will not be discovered and people will not judge them. Thus the forest is a symbol of freedom for the young Ishmael and Hatsue. The cedar trees and the snow play a large role in the novel often linking directly to the title.

Guterson uses the weather and environment to create dramatic tension. The courtroom is described as having a "humid, overbearing swelter". This portrays a hot, tense atmosphere. When Ishmael goes to the lighthouse he is described as being alone in the room "with the fog of his breath in the lantern light".

This seems to create an eerie setting and tension is created though this, leading to him finding the evidence crucial to Kabuo's trial. In Kabuo's testimony he finally describes what happened on the night of Carl's death. He describes the night as a "ghost time, with fog as immobile and dense as buttermilk." He describes the disorientation that the fog creates and says that in this fog "Any number of things could go amiss." This creates dramatic tension along with dramatic irony, as the reader knows that things did go amiss that night resulting in the death of Carl Heine.

In conclusion the use of weather and environment within this novel is extensive. Guterson uses these two themes to create tension and pathetic fallacy. He is also uses them to show the characters in different contexts. The description gives the novel a depth that is full of imagery to contrast the factual nature of a murder trial. He uses the senses, metaphors and similes to achieve this effect.