Racism is a long-standing critical issue that has been habituated and instilled in the minds of individuals for centuries. Although many measures have been taken to prevent the desensitizing effects of racism, its controversy arises from the environmental effects that shape an individual's perception. In his novel Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson conveys how racism and its effects can alter an individual's life through the events of past experiences. Guterson illustrates this message through the development of various characters who possess alternating racist ideologies through a young and mature Ishmael, Etta Heine, Fujiko and Mrs. Shigemura, Horace Whaley's extreme sense of racism, the internment of Japanese culture, as well as Arthur Chambers and the Value of Equality by Carl Heine. In Snow Falls on the Cedars, David Guterson uses psychoanalytic and discriminatory criticism as well as effective writing styles to convey the racist ideologies that form in the minds of individuals and groups of people, in a balanced form, through the idea that beings Humans will always be shaped by their experiences. Ishmael Chambers' experience with Japanese Americans, as a child and as an adult, led to opposing emotions regarding certain past transgressions. The young friendship between Ishmael and Hatsue blossomed into a romantic relationship as they expressed their love under the cedar tree. At this point in the novel, Ishmael admired Hatsue and her culture, supporting the Japanese and expressing his love for her: "They had spent autumn afternoons when they were nine years old in the hollowed base of a cedar tree, where they lay on the ground watching the rain hitting the sword ferns and ivy. At school they were strange... half of paper... and negative attributes after his rejection and war experiences. Works Cited Guterson, David. New York: Vintage Books, 1995. Print."Kendo." Japanese Canadian Cultural Center, nd Web. 8 June 2014. .Lao, Mike. "Japan Today." June 2014. "Encyclopedia of Myths." Fruit in Mythology. Np. 7 June 2014. Routledge, Clay. "Exploring the Psychological Motivations of Racism." June 2014. .