Ishmael Character Expository

Humans are sculpted by their past lives, but some are able to move on better than others.

In Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson characterizes the protagonist, Ishmael Chambers, as

a man who is constantly haunted by the traumas of his past. Ishmael is a highly introverted man

who believes that the world is unfair. He sulks around San Piedro Island with a broken heart and

a missing arm, documenting the lives of other people through his deceased fathers newspaper,

paying little attention to his own life. Through the use of multiple flashbacks, detailed imagery,

and irony, Guterson develops the reclusive character of Ishmael to show how the past can be an

imprisoning cell if the present cannot be accepted.

Guterson uses flashbacks to show how Ishmaels past experiences as a child and young

adult have affected his life as an adult and to further the development of his withdrawn

personality. Much of Ishmaels coldness comes from his contradictory feelings for Hatsue.

Several flashbacks reveal Ishmael and Hatsue were young lovers always playing on the beach,

picking strawberries together, or holding each other in the safety of the hollow tree. Ishmael

loves Hatsue very deeply and vows to forever love her under any circumstance, even war, Ill

always love you. I dont care what else happens. Im always going to love you (207). However,

when he returns from the war after fighting and killing Japanese who look like Hatsue, he blames

her for the war. Ishmael becomes even more hurt when Hatsue mails him a letter telling him to

move on and that she knew that they could never be right together (354). Still, Ishmael is

overcome with feelings of desire every time he sees Hatsue, even though she is a married

woman. Through the use of flashbacks, Guterson shows that Ishmael had a deep love for Hatsue

that cannot be broken. Because Ishmael cannot receive the love he had in the past, he hates his
current life and becomes a single recluse. He is locked in with his old memories and unable to

live in the present.

In addition, Guterson uses detailed imagery to show what Ishmael sees as an adult living

on San Piedro. When Ishmael walks through town or reminisces the old days, detailed imagery is

used to further develop his thoughts. Although the island is unique and beautiful, Ishmael is

rather detached from it. During the snowstorm, Guterson describes the purity of the untouched

snow and rolled over cars in vivid detail. While all other town residents are overwhelmed by the

enormity, beauty, and trouble of the storm, Ishmael is unfazed. He documents the accidents and

remains detached from each situation and the outside world. Ishmaels heart was only thinking

about Hatsue and the love and warmth they had in the cedar tree as children. Guterson also uses

imagery to show what Ishmael saw when he fought in the war against the Japanese. He describes

people bleeding to death in the ocean, the fear and irrationality of the soldiers, and the loss they

have endured. He even includes olfactory imagery, the sweetish smell coming at him from off

the beach was the odor of the dead marines (247). This imagery shows what Ishmael has

experienced and where part of his irreproachable personality originates from. Ed Soames

describes him as a strange birdbout half the man his father wasthe boy was not someone

you could speak to, (310). Guterson uses imagery to describe the unrecoverable experiences

Ishmael has endured and the images that have been burned in his brain, making him unable to

move on with his life. Ishmael remembers the past too vividly to be able live in the now by

accepting the changes in his life.

Irony is also used by Guterson to characterize Ishmael as one who is bitter about the

unfairness of life. He believes that facts should direct the fate of peoples lives. But, ironically,
this ideology is far from accurate, especially in a town like San Piedro where geography and

accidents determine much of peoples fate. Because he is so disillusioned, he falls into an

introverted shell, constantly reminiscing and regretting past events that he cannot change. So, he

chooses to only trust facts and tells his mother that Everything else is ambiguous. Everything

else is emotions and hunches. At least the facts you can cling to; the emotions just float away

(346). It is also ironic that even though he wants fairness in the world, Ishmael struggles to help

exonerate Kabuo and free him from the injustice of the trial. When he holds a piece of evidence

that could release the victim from an prejudice accusation, Ishmael waits until the last minute to

show the judge. He is so overwhelmed by his feelings for Kabuos wife, Hatsue, that he cannot

think logically and turn in the slip of paper immediately. With the use of irony, Guterson shows

how Ishmaels thoughts and feelings of the past keep are so overwhelming that he often forgets

about the present, restricting him from acting rationally.

The past is a glue that can hold a person from living in the present if he or she cannot

accept that times have changed. Guterson uses flashbacks, imagery, and irony to characterize

Ishmael and explore this theme. With these devices, the author is able to develop Ishmaels cold

and introverted personality, show where they stem from, and how it has controlled his life.