In Snow Falling On Cedars by David Guterson, off the coast of Washington in 1954, Nels Gudmundsson, the defense attorney for the main character, Kabuo Miyamoto, is making his closing argument to the court. Nels is aware that the jury may convict Kaubo based on his ethnicity. In Nels’s closing statement, he pleads to the jury to disregard race. “And so the shape of Kabuo Miyamoto’s eyes, the country of his parents’ birth - these things must not influence your decision. You must sentence him simply as an American, equal in the eyes of our legal system to every other American” (Guterson 418). Nels and Kaubo and his family were fully aware that the color of Kabuo’s skin could sentence him to life in prison or death. Although this novel takes place …show more content…
As racism has changed, it has become more discreet, causing younger people to be ignorant to the racism that is being practiced today. Harper Lee does an astounding job of weaving racism throughout her novel To Kill A Mockingbird. In Maycomb County, snow is an extremely rare occurrence, so when snowflakes fall from the sky, siblings Jem and Scout Finch have a magical first experience with snow. Naturally, the young children decide to build a snowman. “‘Jem, I ain’t ever heard of a n***** snowman.’ I said. ‘He won’t be black long,’ he grunted…Jem explained that if he did, the snowman would become muddy and cease to be a snowman” (Lee 75-76). Due to the racism in Maycomb County, Jem and Scout have very black and white thoughts. They believe that for a snowman to be a snowman, it must be white because black is bad and can not be presented in an appealing and honorable fashion. Racism has many different forms. Some forms are larger events or ideas like segregation in schools, and other forms are smaller versions, like the color of a snowman. These smaller forms do not appear to matter at first, but every tiny act of racism contributes to the overall