“There are things in this universe we can't control, and then there are things we can... let fate, coincidence, and chance conspiracy incident; human beings must act according to reason” (Guterson 418). Reason, especially in the eyes and hands of human beings, is a very fickle thing in David Guterson's novel Snow Falling on the Cedars. It is applied and interpreted in different ways by different people, and often incorrectly. Etta Heine believes that it is pure reason that drives her to ignore the agreement between her deceased husband and Zenhichi Miyamoto and instead sell her land to Ole Jurgensen; however, it is just pure prejudice. Despite this, there are also those on the island of San Piedro who understand the reason both on a conceptual and practical level. Nels Gudmundsson is an example of one of these people, as is Kabuo Miyamoto. On the island of San Piedro, reason and lack of will constantly clash, leaving indelible stains on all the islanders. It is the clash between reason and irrationalism that controls the lives of all the islanders and that brings them all to where they are when Kabuo Miyamoto is put on trial for murder. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In The Snow Falling on the Cedars, Nels Gudmundsson is one of the few characters to represent reason. Although he is in his mid-seventies and his health is declining, his intelligence remains very astute. There is no lawyer who could do better than Kabuo Miyamoto, because no lawyer could be as willing and able as Nels to look beyond the color of the skin and the slant of the eyes and the general blind belief of the island that Kabuo is guilty, due to these physical characteristics. Nels' treatment of his client is that of the utmost humanity and respect, without the ferocious pervasion of prejudice so prevalent in most of San Piedro Island. During breaks in the courtroom, he steps away and encourages Deputy Abel Martinson to do the same so that Kabuo and his wife Hatsue can talk in private, not separated by a pane of glass. When they first meet, Nels brings Kabuo two chocolate bars without acknowledging his charity, something he knew Kabuo would find humiliating. On the same visit, Nels also shows Kabuo his complete indifference to skin color during a friendly game of chess, having no preference for white or black chess pieces. When Nels determines, not decides, that Kabuo is not telling him the whole truth about the events of the night of Carl Heine's death, he pushes him to tell the truth without disrespecting him, or with everyone else's goal of proving him guilty. just because of the color of his skin. He really wants to do his job to the best of his ability, to help avenge Kabuo and return him to his family. Nels is able to treat his client with the fairness, equality and open-mindedness that many islanders are incapable of because he understands reason. Listen to Kabuo and look at the facts, and in the courtroom he implores both the jurors and the public to do the same, and to resist prosecutor Alvin Hooks' subtle appeals to their racism. Nels is the champion of reason, but his client Kabuo is his firm and silent supporter. Kabuo hides the truth the entire time, from the sheriff and Nels, because he has every reason to believe that the truth would be just as, if not more, damaging to his legal position. As he tells Nels, "This island [is] full of strong feelings...people who [don't] often say what they think but hate inside anyway...hate anyone who looks like the soldiers they fought against" ( 391). Kabuo is absolutely accuratein this statement. It's the truth, unaffected by Kabuo's resentment of it. Kabuo knows that he, like all the other islanders of Japanese origin, does not enjoy the trust of the citizens of San Piedro and the United States government. He knows he has been wronged by the family of CarlHeine, the man who was his good friend when they were boys. He knows they are no longer friends because the men Carl calls enemies during World War II have faces similar to Kabuo, while the men Kabuo fights in Europe look like Carl. Kabuo is angry, resentful, and haunted when he returns from war, but not to the point of decompensation. He retains his ability to rationalize, his understanding and respect for reason, and this is what allows him to help Carl on the night of his death, as morality can best follow reason. Kabuo could have given in to pettiness and bitterness, but he doesn't even consider them because he sees Carl stuck in the water with a completely dead battery, needing help. He doesn't push Carl to sell him the seven acres owed to his family because he knows that such pressure would only be counterproductive. The presumption among many islanders is that Kabuo kills Carl because he wants the land that Carl has just purchased from Ole Jurgensen, seven acres of which are what were essentially stolen from the Miyamoto family. Kabuo, however, recognizes that "the world [is] a world, and the idea that one man could kill another for a small part of it [makes] no sense" (321). Kabuo just helps Carl, reaches a land deal, shakes Carl's hand, returns to his boat and leaves. He doesn't do anything unreasonable. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for Carl Heine's mother, Etta. Etta is bitterly and unrelentingly racist and consequently incapable of treating Kabuo Miyamoto the way reason (as well as basic human decency) demands. She takes advantage of her husband's death and the fact that Carl is at war to sell their farm to Ole Jurgensen, including on the seven acres Zenhichi Miyamoto makes all payments except the last two. These last two payments, due in 1942, are missed only because the entire Japanese population of San Peidro is sent to distant internment camps, where completion of the payments is simply not possible. When Kabuo confronts her about the land she is owed, land that she wastes no time in selling to Ole Jurgensen without regard to the contract between her husband and Kabuo's father, Etta says "[she has] done nothing that a bank [wouldn't] Do. [She has] done nothing wrong” (138), a belief to which Kabuo responds “[she has] done nothing illegal…wrong is a different matter” (138). Etta does not decide or act according to a sense of right and wrong, she acts according to “a thin veneer of meanness” (301) reason is that it does not make much economic sense to sell the seven acres to Zenhichi Miyamoto in such a way when her eldest son Kabuo reaches the age of twenty he may become a landowner. Although money does matter to her, both in this particular case and in general, it is not, as she claims, her main concern and source of opposition to the sale reason for this is as abominably simple as racism. With no evidence to support this, and really only evidence to the contrary, Etta is wary of Zenhichi. As her husband Carl Senior points out, he and his family are hard workers, quiet and orderly, but Etta hears nothing of this because she has already decided, rather than determined, what kind of people the Miyamotos are, just by the color of their hair. skin. Etta uses racism and hatred in her evaluations, but due to her complete lack of reason, she is unwilling and unable to recognize herself.