And Winston Churchill, with an irony perhaps too broad and easy, noted in Parliament that the people who preferred invasion to A-bombing seemed to have no intention of proceeding to the Japanese front themselves.. Most historians now agree with Fussell. Textual evidence suggests that Fussell expected most of his readers to think that the American decision to drop the two atom bombs on Japan, landing in the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during World War II, was ethically wrong. Basically, Fussell contends that the atomic bomb was deserving of gratitude to God in view of the lives it spared. (LogOut/ The dropping of the bombs were necessary and fair due to the refusal of the Japanese to surrender, the millions of lives saved by a quick end to the war, and the warnings given to the Japanese. . They would have annihilated a lot of us Fussell. Theres no denying that Grays outlook on everything was admirably noble, elevated, and responsible. "So many bright futures consigned to the ashes of the past.So many dreams lost in the madness that had engulfed us.Except for a few widely scattered shouts of joy,the survivors of the abyss sat hollow-eyed and silent, trying to comprehend a world without war." Paul Fussell, Thank God for the Atom Bomb & Other Essays 6 likes Like All Quotes Many of the soldiers have remained silent about their firsthand experiences because they were, The soldiers and marines would view the Japanese as subhuman, little yellow beasts and the only approppriate treatment was annihilation. The Americans dehumanized the Japanese people, merely because they were not European. The veterans in the outfit felt we had already run out of luck anyway. 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.. To this day, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still a source of pain and shame for those afflicted and for those who survived. Fussell is even keener on exposing the euphemisms and illusions of others. I will let God be the Judge of that. During World War II, tensions between Japan and the United States increased. 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. 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. They did not know the horrors the soldiers went through. Planners of the invasion assumed that it would require a full year, to November 1946, for the Japanese to be sufficiently worn down by land-combat attrition to surrender. Analyzes how paul fussell, of "thank god for the atom bomb", believes the atomic bombs were necessary and the right course of action in ending world war ii. It requires feeling its own pressure on your pulses without any ex post facto illumination. 28-30.] of drones and debtors forbes. But The Warriors, his meditation on the moral and psychological dimensions of modern soldiering, gives every sign of error occasioned by remoteness from experience. 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Many of those who were on the front lines were not elaborately educated people. knew war, and he knew better than some of his critics then and now what he was doing and why he was doing it. While many citizens of Hiroshima continued to feel a hatred for Americans which nothing could possibly erase, (117) some, like Mrs. Nakamura, remained more or less indifferent about the ethics of using the bomb. (117). knew better than did Americans at home what those bombs meant in suffering and injustice. When the atom bombs were dropped and news began to circulate that Operation Olympic would not, after all, be necessary, when we learnedto our astonishment that we would not be obliged in a few months to rush up the beaches near Tokyo assault-firing while being machine-gunned, mortared, and shelled, for all the practiced phlegm of our tough facades we broke down and cried with relief and joy. [Excerpted from Paul Fussell's "Thank God for the Atom Bomb. germany gives greece names of 10 000 citizens suspected of. Everyone blew everything out of proportion. 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. . We were in a staging area near Rheims, ready to be shipped back across the United States for refresher training at Fort Lewis, Washington, and then sent on for final preparation in the Philippines. 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. Format: Hardcover. President Roosevelt approved several orders and committees that specifically targeted Japanese Americans on the West Coast, while war propaganda was created to instill fear and hatred of the Japanese in the American people. He notes that thousands of allied soldiers died each week, and that the claim that "the Japanese would have surrendered if given time, so the bombings were unethical" ignores the consequences of such patience (4). Dower explains that the often overlooked component of racial hatred and propaganda was a driving force in the kill or be killed atmosphere of no surrender, in the Pacific compared to the European theater (Dower 12). Fussell's argument resembles the standard defense of the bombings: dropping atomic bombs on two cities forced Japan to surrender without a costly US invasion of Japan and thus supposedly saved more American and Japanese lives than were lost in the bombings. ) Why does Fussell "thank God" for the atom bomb? The Glenn Grays of this world need to have their attention directed to the testimony of those who know, like, say, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, who said, Moderation in war is imbecility, or Sir Arthur Harris, director of the admittedly wicked aerial-bombing campaign designed, as Churchill put it, to de-house the German civilian population, who observed that War is immoral, or our own General W. T. Sherman: War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it. Lord Louis Mountbatten, trying to say something sensibleabout the dropping of the A-bomb, came up only with War is crazy. Or rather, it requires choices among crazinesses. KILL MORE JAPS! Herman Wouk remembers the Pacific war scene correctly while analyzing ensign Keith in The Caine Mutiny: Like most of the naval executioners of Kwajalein, he seemed to regard the enemy as a species of animal pest. And the feeling was entirely reciprocal: From the grim and desperate taciturnity with which the Japanese died, they seemed on their side to believe that they werecontending with an invasion of large armed ants. Hiroshima seems to follow in natural sequence: 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. Since the Jap vermin resist so madly and have killed so many of us, lets pour gasoline into their bunkers and light it and then shoot those afire who try to get out. Thank God for the atom bomb. Details; Description; . They would have annihilated the lot of us., The Dutchman Laurens van der Post had been a prisoner of the Japanese for three and a half years. Stopping Russia "[The U.S.] was concerned about Russia's postwar behavior. He thinks the A-bombs were unnecessary and unjustified because the war was ending anyway. Herseys straight, simple narrative technique presents the catastrophe in its raw form, including the voices of those who experienced the bombing firsthand. During the time of World War 2, as the bombs were being dropped on different parts on the country, they were not only killing the men that were fighting in the war, but also killing innocent civilians. that in order to finish with the Japanese quickly, it will be necessary to invade the industrial heart of Japan. The invasion was definitely on, as I know because I was to be in it. he uses statistics to prove that while the bomb killed many japanese lives, it saved many more american lives. 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). We have used it to shorten the agony of young Americans.. Before Fussell concedes the brutality of the bombings, he takes a fairly one-sided position. 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. Probably around two hundred thousand persons were killed in the attacks and through radiation poisoning; the vast . Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. In the article by Paul Fussell "Thank God for the Atom Bomb," Fussell illustrates his views on the dropping of the atom bomb. (New York: Ballentine Books, 1990), 1-22. . The main argument of the essay is based around social class and personal experience. "This is not a book to promote tranquility, and readers in quest of peace of mind should look elsewhere," writes Paul Fussell in the foreword to this original, sharp, tart, and thoroughly engaging work. 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. "A conservative cultural critic with a passion for nude beaches and the Indy 500 auto race, Fussell (The Great War and Modern Memory) explores some of his pet topics in this miscellany of essays and articles. Fussell is writing for an audience (readers of the New Republic magazine) that quite likely was born after World War II and has no direct experience with the war in the Pacific, or in later wars such as Korea or, more significantly, Vietnam. thank god for the atom bomb and other essays google play. Already a member? They heard about the end of the war. Those weeks mean the world if youre one of those thousandsor related to one of them. By July 10, 1945, the prelanding naval and aerial bombardment of the coast had begun, and the battleships Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and King George V were steaming up and down the coast, softening it up with their sixteen-inch shells. I looked to theleft of me and saw the bloody mess that was once my left arm; its fingers and palm were turned upward, like a flower looking to the sun for its strength. 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 Although still officially fit for combat, in the German war I had already been wounded in the back and the leg badly enough to be adjudged, after the war, 40 percent disabled. (Its worth noting in passing how few hopes blacks could entertain of desegregation and decent treatment when the U.S. Army itself slandered the enemy as the little brown Jap.) Marines and soldiers could augment their view of their own invincibility by possessing a well-washed Japanese skull, and very soon after Guadalcanal it was common to treat surrendering Japanese as handy rifle targets. "I have two questions about Paul Fussell's essay, "Thank God for the Atom Bomb". Again, the Japanese had no knowledge of the bombs, causing even more devastating casualties. with quiet disbelief coupled with an indescribable sense of relief. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. Change). would be a ghastly bloodletting. Log in here. His latest book is about American. These bombs were thought to end the war between Japan and America before other countries could get involved. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. 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. Its not hard toguess which side each chose once you know that Alsop experienced capture by the Japanese at Hong Kong early in 1942, while Joravsky came into no deadly contact with the Japanese: a young combat-innocent soldier, he was on his way to the Pacific when the war ended. He states in the book that He did not want to violate the widely held American moral view that war should be fought against soldiers, not civilians. Why did Fussel "thank god for the atom bomb? Times change. It is resorted to only when laws, which are rules, have failed. Soldiers being like that, only the barest decencies should be expected of them. 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