Content Warning: This guide references violence, combat, and racial prejudice.

Cedar trees feature prominently in the novel’s setting, covering the landscape of San Piedro Island. The inclusion of the trees in the title prepares readers for the cedar’s significance. The cedar tree is one with many uses, as evidenced by the prominence of the lumber industry throughout the Pacific Northwest. In this way, the tree is an important part of the economy, symbolizing prosperity and success. In the novel, however, cedars create an atmosphere of warmth and inclusion, as if they are sheltering and protecting the citizens of the island. Indeed, they are an important fixture as the three central characters—Ishmael, Hatsue, and Kabuo—recall scenes from their childhoods.

It is the hollow cedar, however, that proves instrumental in drawing Ishmael and Hatsue together. When Hatsue first invites Ishmael to join her in the hollow tree, she is symbolically inviting him to become better acquainted with her. It is there that their relationship shifts from one of casual friendship to a romantic one that includes physical intimacy. Importantly, the tree provides a secret location in which to hide Hatsue and Ishmael, thus keeping their relationship unknown from all others.