Moreover, other countries claimed the right of nuclear weapons to defend their citizens. Consequently, the tragic bombings became the example of an arm’s race instead of peace. Furthermore, since Japan was already on the brink of collapse the bombing was unnecessary, and peace talks would have taken place within a decent time frame (even after the cancelled Hawaii summit). The millions of deaths calculated by Operation Downfall [the codename for the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of the Second World War, which was abandoned when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki] actually show that only desperation and honour stood between Japan and unconditional
Kelly Shaver AMH 2030 Week 7 Individual Work What factors likely motivated President Truman to authorize the use of atomic bombs against Japan in August 1945? President Truman did not trust the Soviets. The Potsdam Declaration – July 26 listed U.S. policy also giving Japan a chance to surrender without guaranteeing that Emperor Hirohito would not be tried for war crimes committed by Japan. Japan was so cautious about their response that is was seen as a refusal on their part. The Japanese were seen as bloodthirsty savages willing to die rather than give up.
More recently, there was Hitler's genocidal six-million-death final solution to the Jewish problem, and the Communists' ten of millions of mass murders continue to this day. All this has been done without benefit of nuclear power. Many made comments came at the beginning of the atomic or nuclear age, and while the source and the judgment deserve respect, experience has shown that nuclear power in Western hands deterred a third world war and ultimately caused the collapse of the greatest
Fussel versus Walzer I believe that dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was inhumane and that the happenings of that war could have been solved in a different manner. Before reading both Fussel and Walzer’s opposing opinions on the droppings of the atomic bombs on Japan, I can confidently say that I agreed with Fussel to a certain extent. Many people’s gut reaction to something as huge as this would be “Better him/her than me”. What was so wrong with killing 100,000 to potentially save hundreds of thousands of American lives? That is what a lot of people asked themselves and still ask themselves until this day.
Though many Americans remained steadfast in the belief that the deployment of the bomb on Hiroshima was a legitimate decision, the thought of it happening again was unappealing, especially with growing tensions with the communist Soviet Union where nuclear deployment towards Americans was a real threat, as one reader put “I read Hersey’s report. I was marvellous. Now let’s drop a handful on Moscow” emphasising that American sentiment was un-condemning of nuclear warfare, though contemplation of the effects was certainly brought to the fore by John Hersey’s
On the 2nd of November 1945 J. Robert Oppenheimer gave a speech on the, the recent events in Japan, in Los Almanos New Mexico. His speech gave reasons behind the construction and the use of the atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He directed his speech towards “ fellow scientists and at least worriers”, and described the situation as “the fix we are in.” This brings about the seriousness of the situation of the incident, as we are not only the creators of the bomb, but America itself had to give a reason for such destruction. After the disaster of the two nuclear explosions in Japan, the general public everywhere did not only want to know of why it had to be so from the responsible country itself, but the reasons behind the creation of such a
How the Japanese are just going through the struggle, understanding that life cannot be predicted. Hersey has ironic meanings in this novel. Things that nobody would have put together or looked at in that perspective. “There, in the tin factory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a human being was crushed by books, (Hersey 23).” In all of reality, books are somewhat outdated or obsolete today but then, books were power; books were only known to help. But in this case books hurt or injured Ms.
When Noll died it could have pushed Finn over the edge, just days before Noll confided in him his unwanted of dying, Finn I believe gave up on God at that time, he stopped listening to him mother and chose to make a decision for himself, Max and Lucy to be safe. I chose this quote because it really represents the feelings of God for most of the characters in the story, people cling onto some sort of hope of a God throughout. Whether you believe in God or don’t believe in Him, if a nuclear apocalypse destroys your life, just like Finn you would be contemplating if it was Gods will be done in your
On the other hand, we have “Fail-Safe” that, from a very serious point of view, exposes the problematic of nuclear bombs. This film causes stress and builds tension from the begging to the end. There are no jokes in this film, and it’s “fail point” is not directly a human one, but it a mechanical malfunction in the system that causes the conflict. The characters in this film are educated and knowledgeable people who are experts on the material, but still cannot resolve the problem. Both movies are catalogued under science fiction, and even though it seems improbable that the USA and the USSR could destroy each other, they were absolutely capable of doing it.
1/22/2010 Charlie Gordon was a mentally challenged adult with a lot of desire to read and write. Everything he ever wanted or desired could have ended if one small thing in his operation to triple his IQ went wrong and that’s why I am against Charlie getting the operation. There are many reasons why he shouldn’t have gotten it, but there are three that stand out the most to me. One is that his life was put in great danger since it’s a brain surgery. Second was that there wasn’t enough research in the particular area, and third was that he will always remember being smart but never get the chance of being smart again.