Snow_Falling_on_Cedars

To portray conflicting perspectives within a text one must either agree or disagree with a certain side. It is through this that composers of texts cannot present an even-handed, unbiased point of view due to their personal opinions and experiences. To a great extent this is evident in the use of structure and personal pronouns within the texts ‘Snow Falling On Cedars’, a novel by David Guterson, the poem ‘My genocide’ by Romaine Moreton and the film ‘The Queen’ directed by Stephen Frears. Guterson’s use of structure to create conflicting perspectives reflects an inherent bias. SFOC is a circular narrative without a linear timeline; it is through the use of flashbacks that the audience gains further insight into the background behind the court trial and the evident racial tension. Guterson begins in the middle of the story allowing the characters to narrate and identify the conflicting perspectives. Through this the reader is able to experience multiple sides of the same situation. When Guterson chooses to add a certain amount of information about the past highly influences the readers perspective, swaying them more towards what he believes it true. The story is told in third person with Ishmael being the focus in which the reader relates to. Although he himself is not free from racism he comes the closest to representing harmony between the two races through his romance with Hatsue. Narrative through the consciousness of different characters allows the reader to see the conflicting perspectives of the novel from many different view points however it always comes back to Ishmael as he is the character in which greatly reflects Guterson’s opinion. This demonstrates Guterson’s bias, as he is reflected in his character of Ishmael, encouraging the responder to agree with him. Guterson’s structure demonstrates his inability to present an even-handed, unbiased attitude in the portrayal of conflicting perspectives due to his personal opinions. Frears use of structure of the film ‘The Queen’ creates an obvious bias. Stephen Frears was alive during all of Princess Diana’s life therefore was able to view, to the full extent, how much ‘the people’ loved her and looked up to her. Therefore he was also there to experience what her death did to the public, with most of England going into a state of mourning. The film follows a linear structure with each event occurring in chronological order. Throughout the movie Frears incorporates real footage of Princes Diana, the Queen and, most of all, the people mourning Diana’s death. This footage has a great effect on the viewer as they can see the reality of what he movie is trying to convey, therefore it is through these short displays and the timing of these displays that the audience is influenced by Frears bias. Time is shown through the growing amount of flowers shown outside the palace, this conveys to the audience that the public mourning of Diana was not going to stop unless the Royal Family chose to acknowledge them. Throughout the film the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, remains a main character and one of the only characters in which can actually influence the Queen. This character clearly conveys the view of Stephen Frears as he loves the public but also highly respects the Queen and her authority. Therefore this film demonstrates Frears bias through the use of narrative structure, real footage and the character Tony Blair. Thus an composer is unable to present an even-handed, unbiased attitude when portrayed conflicting perspectives within a text. David Gutersons biased perspective is demonstrated through his use of personal pronouns in which allow him to directly address the reader. Throughout his life in Seattle Guterson based the setting of San Peirdo on his real life experiences. He also witnessed the way in which the Japanese-American’s were treated upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor and recognized the injustice within it. When Hatsue is trying to convince her mother, Fujiko, that not all Caucasian-Americans hate the Japanese she says, “They’re not so different from us, you know” (p. 175). The use of personal pronounces separates the two cultures referring to the Japanese as ‘us’ and the Americans as “they”. This division encourages the reader to identify with one perspective. The use of inclusive pronoun “us” as spoken by Hatsue addresses the audience, placing them in the position of the Japanese meaning it is more likely that the reader with agree with them than the White-Americans. This perspective is similar to Guterson’s as he recognizes the unjust treatment of the Japanese. Furthermore this division is portrayed in last statement said by the accused, Kabuo’s, lawyer, Nels. He says “the shape of Kabuo Miyamoto’s eyes, the country of his parent’s birth – these things must no influence your decision’ (p367). Here Nels speaks directly to the reader making them the Jury, challenging them to take a side. Guterson is pushing the audience to agree with him of the injustice placed against the Japanese just because of their culture and their native country. Guterson’s use of personal pronouns demonstrates the great extent to which his bia attitude towards events, personalities and situations has affected his representation of conflicting perspectives. Similarly, Romaine Moreton, represent conflicting perspectives with intentional bis from her personal opinions and experiences. Moreton was born in 1969 as an Ingigenous Australian, she has personally experienced the events and situations she depicts in her poem, ‘My genocide’. The persona she speaks through is representing herself and her fellow Indigenous Austraians. Most of the poem is written in stanzas composed of a couplet separating the responder, ‘your’, from the composer, ‘my’. Moreton uses personal pronouns strongly to separate herself from her intended audience as she to tries to confront them on an issue which is extremely personal to her. “Your mourners will gather and lay wreaths on the eve of my killings/ when my come together, it is called an illegal gathering”. A somber tone is created as Moreton encourages the reader to reflect on times when they have been mourning, this allows them to relate to the composer’s struggles as they are denied freedom. As Moreton confronts the responder and refers to herself using ‘my’, she demonstrates her inability to present an even-handed attitude towards the situation. She encourages the responder to see the situation from her personal perspective, this challenging them as they present a conflicting perspective. The representation of events, situations and personalities in Moreton’s poem ‘My genocide’ reflects that bias has affected her representation of changing perspectives to a great extent. Through their use of structure and personal pronouns, composers demonstrate, to a great extent, their inability to present an unbiased, even handed representation of conflicting perspectives. This is evident in the novel ‘Snow Falling on Cedars’ by David Guterson, the film ‘The Queen’ directed by Stephen Frears and the poem ‘My genocide’ by Romaine Moreton.