Snow Falling on Cedars Lesson Plan

Through Susan Marie's testimony, what do we learn about the connection between Kabuo and Carl?

Through Susan Marie, we learn more of the kind of man Carl had been while alive. He had been passionate and attentive, but closed in a way that is similar to what Hatsue experiences in her relationship with Kabuo. Each man returned from the war with deep emotional wounds difficult to express or to heal. The similarity between the women's experiences in marriage during the period after the war highlights how personal experience ensures an inevitable, fundamental separateness, even in the most intimate of relationships.

Susan Marie's testimony makes clear that she was never...