(About 140,000 Japanese died at Hiroshima.) Of the two the first was a tighter and better book. Good Essays. If the atom bomb was not dropped, many more lives would have been lost. View fussels.docx from HIST MISC at Longwood University. So many dead. . These bombs were thought to end the war between Japan and America before other countries could get involved. . Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay, drops the bomb named Little Boy on Hiroshima. And second, by implicationit can also inform the audience that during the war he was not socially so unfortunate as to find himself down there with the ground forces, where he might have had to compromise the purity and clarity of his moral system by the experience of weighing his own life against someone elses. )What was one of the major concerns of the American leaders and military during this time? Stopping Russia "[The U.S.] was concerned about Russia's postwar behavior. Thank God for the Atom Bomb and Other Essays. On August 2, we observed the 76th anniversary of the atom bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The testimony of experience has tended to come from rough diamondsJames Jones is an examplewho went through the war as enlisted men in the infantry or the Marine Corps. Dowers book, War without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War, is an intelligently crafted review of the racial aspects that were integral to the incredible violence of the Pacific theater. And the invasion was going to take place: theres no question about that. Fussell's essay is an attempt to debunk the arguments of these critics, who argue that Japan would have surrendered without the Americans' detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945. In the Pacific the situation grew so public and scandalous that in September 1942, the Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet issued this order: No part of the enemys body may be used as a souvenir. I yelled for medics, because subconsciously I wanted to live. #4. ) Why does Fussell "thank God" for the atom bomb?What role does his own experience of history play in shaping his views as an historian? Someone, please help this child. It didnt know then what everyone knows now about leukemia and various kinds of carcinoma and birth defects. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Or simplified." Comment. Others recounted how signs encouraging everyone to KILL JAPS! Herman Wouk suggests this obliviousness of both sides to the fact that the opponents were human beings may perhaps be cited as the key to the many massacres of the Pacific war. They saw all Japanese as monsters an this justifies the dropping of the. Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the war in Europe Gray was an interrogator in the Army Counterintelligence Corps, and in that capacity he experienced the war at Division level. Have the . On August sixth, 1945 during World War two, an American B-29 bomber dropped the world's first atomic bomb over the city of Hiroshima and three days later, on August ninth, 1945 the second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, which forced the Japanese army to surrender.. His most valuable pieces deal with the horrors of modern warfare and its literaturesomewhat extending and generalizing his powerful The Great War and Modern Memory (1975). On the tragic day of August 6, 1945, US Air Force deployed the first atomic bomb over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Because wed destroyed civilians? You think of the lives whichwould have been lost in an invasion of Japans home islandsa staggering number of Americans but millions more of Japanese and you thank God for the atomic bomb. Part III, The War in Japanese Eyes, allows the reader to receive a Japanese perspective and also grasp how devastating the results of war were. In Scotch, Teacher's is the great experience." Kucinich supports the claim that the bomb was not needed to end the war, although some may disagree. He was president of the History of Education Society and member of the executive board of the American Educational Research Association. When the war ended, Bruce Page was nine years old. They did not start the war, except in the terrible sense hinted atin Frederic Mannings observation based on his front-line experience in the Great War: War is waged by men; not by beasts, or by gods. His essay "Thank God for the Atom Bomb" tells us why the United States needed to drop the atomic bomb and provides quotes from people with experience from the war to back up his claim. Thats a bit of what happened in six days of the two or three weeks posited by Galbraith. Hiroshima, he says, was "the most cruel ending of that most cruel war." In Its clear the US should not have bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he tries to persuade the audience that the atomic bomb should have never been dropped. . . Paul Fussell, "Thank God for the Atomic Bomb," Thank God for the Atomic Bomb and Other Essays. I wonder what became of him. Another bright enlisted man, this one an experienced marine destined for the assault on Honshu, adds his testimony. . On the other hand, John Kenneth Galbraith is persuaded that the Japanese would have surrendered surely by November without an invasion. One young combat naval officer close to the action wrote home m the fall of 1943, just before the marines underwent the agony of Tarawa: When I read that we will fight the Japs for years if necessary and will sacrifice hundreds of thousands if we must, I always like to check from where hes talking: its seldom out here. That was Lieutenant (j.g.) I cursed the war, I cursed the people who were responsiblefor it, I cursed God for putting me here to suffer for something I never did or knew anything about. He writes with the unflinching gaze of a veteran whose life the atom bomb likely saved. And of course the brutality was not just on one side. (LogOut/ Thank God for the atom bomb. The dramatic postwar Japanese success at hustling and merchandising and tourism has (happily, in many ways) effaced for most people the vicious assault context in which the Hiroshima horror should be viewed. thank god for the atom bomb and other essays google play. Mr. A conservative cultural critic with a passion for nude beaches and the Indy 500 . I was simply miserable. Or even simplified. In Scotch, Teacher's is the great experience.". eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. He also argues that Japan was not close to surrender, and that although the devastation and casualties caused by the bombing were horrific, that opponents of the bomb neglect the equal or greater horrors suffered by the American soldiers, the Japanese civilians conscripted to fight against them, and the prisoners of war. Fussell argues vigorously and, to my mind, convincingly that the bombing was crucial in cutting short the war and preventing the much greater loss of life that would have occurred as a result of a full-fledged invasion. Why not? Plenty of Japanese gold teeth were extractedsome from still living mouthswith Marine Corps Ka-Bar Knives, and one of E. B. Sledges fellow marines went around with a cut-off Japanese hand. Anticipating objections from those without such experience, in his book WWII Jones carefully prepares for his chapter on the A-bombs by detailing the plans already in motion for the infantry assaults on the home islands of Kyushu (thirteen divisions scheduled to land in November 1945) andultimately Honshu (sixteen divisions scheduled for March 1946). English assignment help 24447 ) Why does Fussell "thank God" for the atom bomb? In Before Hiroshima : The Path Towards total War ; Ronald Takaki discusses the various reasons on why America decided to drop the atomic bombs on Japan and why they felt like dropping bombs were better than having to invade. Many of those who were on the front lines were not elaborately educated people. Momotaro was a well-known Japanese folk tale, which focused on the Japanese being superior to the white imperialists. The degree to which Americans register shock and extraordinary shame about the Hiroshima bomb correlates closely with lack of information about the Pacific war. The A-bombs meant, he says, a difference, at most, of two or three weeks. But at the time, with no indication that surrender was on the way, the kamikazes were sinking American vessels, the Indianapolis was sunk (880 men killed), and Allied casualties were running to over 7,000 per week. ISBN-13: 9780671638665. The killing was all going to be over, and peace was actually going to be the state of things. Source: Paul Fussell, a World War II Soldier, Thank God for the Atom Bomb, 1990. Whereas yellow was the color of illness and treason and the Japanese were usually referred to as yellow, the color white symbolized purity which stood for the American race. If the bomb had only been ready in time, the young men of my infantry platoon would not have been so cruelly killed and wounded. Thank God for the atom bomb, and other essays by Paul Fussell. To experience both sides, one might study the book Unforgettable Fire: Pictures Drawnby Atomic Bomb Survivors, which presents a number of amateur drawings and watercolors of the Hiroshima scene made by middle-aged and elderly survivors for a peace exhibition in 1975. A deep fake video made by artificial intelligence recently circulated online, showing a fake President Biden announcing a U.S. draft for the war in Ukraine. Fussell argues vigorously and, to my mind, convincingly that the bombing was crucial in cutting short the war and preventing the much greater loss of life that would have occurred as a result of a full-fledged invasion. With this in mind, they would have continued to drag out the war, which shows that dropping the bombs sped up the war which lessened the casualties. After the war he became a much-admired professor of philosophy at Colorado College and an esteemed editor of Heidegger. David Joravsky, now a professor of history at Northwestern, argued on the other hand that those who decided to use the A-bombs on cities betray defects of reason and self-restraint. It all neednt have happened, he says, if the U.S. government had been willing to take a few more days and to be a bit more thoughtful in opening up the age of nuclear warfare. Ive already noted what a few more days would mean to the luckless troops and sailors on the spot, and as to being thoughtful when opening up the age of nuclear warfare, of course no one was focusing on anything as portentous as that, which reflects a historians tidy hindsight. Enjoy eNotes ad-free and cancel anytime. Paul Fussell, "Thank God for the Atom Bomb" Mac computer capable with iMovie, Quicktime (for recording and exporting) and Internet access (for high school) Assignment: For middle school students: Have students write a script for a chapter of a hypothetical documentary on the decision to drop the bomb (approximately three pages). Fussell argues that an infantry assault on Japan would have been deadly and would have resulted in the loss of huge numbers of Allied troops. Let us know your assignment type and we'll make sure to get you exactly the kind of answer you need. So many bright futures consigned to the ashes of the past. Thank God for the Atom Bomb and Other Essays by Paul Fussell. The japanese were nowhere near aware of what was going to happen that day, and they had no idea of how much pain and suffering it would inflict. In short, I strongly disagree with the author because the bomb needed to be dropping in order to end the war. by Paul Fussell. Theres no denying that Grays outlook on everything was admirably noble, elevated, and responsible. One does, doesnt one? Namely, the importance of experience, sheer, vulgar experience, in influencing, if not determining, ones views about that use of the atom bomb. Chapter 8, The Pure Self, Dower explains the Japanese traditions and culture, along with the humiliation and discrimination the Japanese received. My father was born in Hong Kong during the World War II period. But whats at stake in an infantry assault is so entirely unthinkable to those without the experience of one, or several, or many, even if they possess very wide-ranging imaginations and warm sympathies, that experience is crucial in this case. The man of conscience realized intuitively that the vast majority of Japanese in both cities were no more, if no less, guilty of the war than were his own parents, sisters, or brothers. . The Japanese were determined to win this fight; they would mobilize every Japanese person to suceed. I was a twenty-one-year-old second lieutenant of infantry leading a rifle platoon. Paul Fussell appeals to Pathos Reasons that he appeals to pathos is by including the audience in his speech. List Price: $17.95. On July 14, 1945, General Marshall sadly informed the Combined Chiefs of Staffhe was not trying to scare the Japanesethat its now clear . The citizens of Japan had never expected something as extensive as a bomb. Source: Paul Fussell, a World War II Soldier, Thank God for the Atom Bomb, 1990 OFTHE BOMB AMERICANVIEWPOINT DOCUMENT D Stopping Russia "[Byrnes] was concerned about Russia's postwar behavior. Inquirer Published Aug 6, 2010 By John Rossi Again he writes: We existed in an environment totally incomprehensible to men behind the lines . That is, few of those destinedto be blown to pieces if the main Japanese islands had been invaded went on to become our most effective men of letters or impressive ethical theorists or professors of contemporary history or of international law. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. We would have been murdered in the biggest massacre of the war. Alsop concludes: Japanese surrender could never have been obtained, at any rate without the honor-satisfying bloodbath envisioned by Anami, if the hideous destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had not finally galvanized the peace advocates into tearing up the entire Japanese bookof rules. The Japanese plan to deploy the undefeated bulk of their ground forces, over two million men, plus 10,000 kamikaze planes, plus the elderly and all the women and children with sharpened spears they could muster in a suicidal defense makes it absurd, says Alsop, to hold the common view, by now hardly challenged by anyone, that the decision to drop the two bombs on Japan was wicked in itself, and that President Truman and all otherswho joined in making or who [like Robert Oppenheimer] assented to this decision shared in the wickedness. And in explanation of the two bombs, Alsop adds: The true, climactic, and successful effort of the Japanese peace advocates did not begin in deadly earnest until after the second bomb had destroyed Nagasaki. Summary Of Thank God For The Atom Bomb By Paul Fussell 499 Words | 2 Pages. Sitting in stunned silence, we remembered our dead. Those weeks mean the world if youre one of those thousandsor related to one of them. Russian troops had moved into Hungary and Romania, and [the U.S.] thought it would be very difficult Please help! eNotes Editorial, 22 Sep. 2018, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/paul-fussell-thank-god-for-atom-bomb-intended-479503. That is the reason Fussell said, "Thank God for the Atom Bomb." I am writing about these events neither to justify nor to condemn the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He believes that those who argue that the atomic. They would have annihilated a lot of us Fussell. Among Americans it was widely held that the Japanese were really subhuman, little yellow beasts, and popular imagery depicted them as lice, rats, bats, vipers, dogs, and monkeys. If it is argued that the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima was necessary to shock the Japanese to surrender, how does one justify the hasty bombing of Nagasaki only Expected something as extensive as a bomb every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team end! 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why does fussell thank god for the atom bomb