Is excess the enemy of success? Historical examples and the characters Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone demonstrate that this is the case. In World War II era Japan, pride made their army strong, but eventually destroyed it due to the soldiers’ refusal to surrender even in the face of imminent defeat. In Hitler’s Germany, loyalty originally made the nation strong and rebuilt the economy, but eventually caused that same nation to look away while their leader committed heinous acts. Parallels can be drawn between these historical examples and the characters Oedipus and Antigone, who each experience a fall from grace due to their tragic flaws, excess pride and blind loyalty respectively. Sophocles uses Oedipus’ and Antigone’s tragic flaws to …show more content…
Japan bombed pearl harbor on December 7, 1941. The bombs destroyed U.S. ships and killed many Americans, causing Congress to declare war on Japan and the other Axis powers (Holt McDougal 497). Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa, two important battles that the U.S. fought against Japan, led to huge loss of life due to the Japanese principle that it was “dishonorable to surrender” (Holt McDougal 498). The Japanese soldiers preferred death rather than capture and dishonor even when it was evident that victory for them was impossible. One tactic that shows the extent to which the Japanese went in order to die an honorable death was the kamikaze attacks. These suicide bombers would volunteer to deliberately fly planes into Allied ships in order to damage them and kill the men on board. As a result of the huge casualties at Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa due to the Japanese’s refusal to surrender under any circumstances, the Allies believed that invading the mainland of Japan would result in a great loss of life. The Allies did not want this, so they decided to drop an atomic bomb on Japan in order to prevent the need for ground troops and hopefully end the war quickly and with less loss of life. Even after the U.S. dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima, Japan did not immediately surrender. They had so much pride and loyalty to their country that not even a bomb more destructive than anything the world had ever seen before could force them to give up. They preferred to die honorably while fighting than surrender to the allies with their lives intact. Then, after the U.S. dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki, Japan waited almost a week to surrender. The Japanese people’s excess honor, pride, and loyalty, which are usually admirable qualities, brought death and the destruction of two major cities to
Document 2 describes that the Japanese surrender was not a result of the atomic bombs. The United States had hit 60 cities with their high explosive bombs and made Japan inaccessible to a wide-ranging war. This reveals that the Japanese had no access to a large war because of the raids caused by the Americans. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a way that the Americans got the Japanese to surrender. The United States bombing on Japan was similar to the raids because it killed many people but found a way to make Japan to give up.
The Japanese where not going to surrender and the Americans did not want to give up on this war either. America decided the only way to end the war and make the Japanese surrender, was to go to extreme lengths. A B-29 atomic bomb was dropped over the Japanese city, Hiroshima. This was the world’s first atomic bomb and the world was very surprised about the damage that it made. This explosion wiped out 90% of the city and immediately killed 80,000 people. Tens of thousands then died later from radiation exposure. This wakeup call still didn’t get the Japanese to surrender. So, America dropped another atomic bomb, this time in Nagasaki. This then ended in more people dying, roughly about 40,000 on top of the already killed 80,000. After these two attacks, Japanese Emperor announced that they had
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki prompted Japan's surrender, which ended the war in the Pacific. When the first bombs were dropped, people were surprised because of the power and destruction it caused. Japan knew if more bombs were dropped, the more time it would take to end the war, so they surrendered. “The discovery and harnessing
During World War Two, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. On August 6th, 1945, the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later on August 9th, 1945, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Some may say that it was necessary to drop the atomic bombs because it prevented an invasion of Japan, saving the lives of many Americans and Japanese, and it forced Japan to surrender, which benefited everyone. Previous battles such as Pearl Harbor showed people that Japanese soldiers would fight ruthlessly and without surrender.
On August 15th Japan surrendered, and on September 2nd, 1945 they signed the “Instrument of Surrender”. Hospitals were filled with patients who had not seemed sick before. People vomited, bled from their gums, and spots had begun to appear on their skin. Later Japanese doctors discovered that the people were dying from radiation that came from the atomic bomb. {look up: conspiracy theory} When considering using the atomic bombs, President Truman took into account the lowest possible cost for ending the war, he also wanted to end the war quickly. Truman once stated, “When you have to deal with a beast you have to treat him as a beast.” After the Pearl Harbor invasion. The U.S. started with “Operation Downfall,” invading Kyushu, many casualties where estimated, but this war proved to be even more deadly than predicted. General MacArthur thought that dropping more bombs, and using air power by itself would protect American lives, while also bringing forth a quicker surrender from the Japanese. When I look at both sides of the 1945 Japan bombing I really tried to stay open about the different viewpoints. The fact that the U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands crippled Japan was interesting to find. I felt that the Japanese did not want to compromise, and in some way bit the hands that fed them. It seems these allies had allot of power. The Japanese seemed to only
In conclusion, the Japanese are a resilient and honor bond people who know when they are beaten. This along with all the other statements mentioned in this paper goes to show that Japan would have surrendered if the bombs were not dropped. Although funding the War would have been much harder to do. Many more Americans and Japanese soldiers would have died as well. But, in the end the bombs didn’t need to be
“On August 6, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese industrial center, completely destroying the city and killing an estimated 70,000 people. Three days later, the U. S. dropped a second bomb, destroying the city of Nagasaki and killing another 39,000 Japanese citizens. Finally, on August 14, Japan surrendered.” (American Experience). The Japanese surrendered because they were a defeated nation. Japan's cities and industry had been destroyed. They could not sail any ships, could not fly any planes and had lost many territories to the United States and allies.
Pride is a quality that all people possess in one way or another. Some people take pride in their appearance, worldly possessions, or position in society. The story of Antigone written by Sophocles has two characters who have a tragic flaw of pride. I will show how Creon’s pride of power leads to his destruction, and how Antigone’s pride makes her an honorable character who should be treated as a hero.
The U.S. didn't know the power and effect of the atomic bomb so they decided to drop it on a city filled with innocent people and children. “Hundreds of thousands of civilians with no democratic rights to oppose their militarist government, including women and children, were vaporized, turned into charred blobs of carbon, horrifically burned, buried in rubble, speared by flying debris, and saturated with radiation.” Innocent people didn’t have to die to have the war come to an end. The atomic bomb was not the right thing to do and it wasn't necessary at all. Some people may say the Japanese were given a fair warning and the Japanese could have surrendered right then and there.
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a bombing attack on the American naval base in Pearl Harbor. This attack on the U.S. brought America into World War II. One Japanese general commented “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.” (Yamamoto) Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. created a much larger enemy than they intended. After the attack the U.S. embarked on a bloody and hard fought campaign through the pacific, which ultimately led to the Dropping of two atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan. Although many lives were lost the American decision to drop the bombs was justified because it ended the war quickly, saved american lives, and showed the world the power of the U.S. The Pacific War was a long and drawn out process that was moving very slowly for the United States, was struggling to pull off any major naval victory and from the mistakes made of the U.S. basically leaving the Japanese unattended while they were fighting the Germans in Europe. The American decision to drop the Bombs was justified because the U.S. wanted to end the war quickly and not to have a costly invasion of the Japanese Homeland as well as showing power to the world. Truman wanted to end the war as fast as he could because we had been in conflict for 4 years now and the American forces were very weary and tired of war, the U.S. dropped it for the other reason of
On August 6, 1945 an American B-29 bomber successfully deployed and activated the first ever weaponized atom bomb over its target, Hiroshima. Upon detonation the bomb instantly killed around 70,000 Japanese also destroying ninety percent of the city. Three days later a second American B-29 bomber dropped another atom bomb over the city of Nagasaki killing an estimated 40,000 more people. The Japanese Emperor announced Japan’s unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was tragic, however, it was necessary to dissuade Japan from continuing war efforts and to accept unconditional surrender offered by the United States.
Firstly, due to Japanese culture, they were a force to be reckoned with, as they would never surrender, and fight to the last man. To illustrate their philosophies, when they bombed Pearl Harbour, they believed that it was divine favour when the clouds parted over the port. Moreover, in six months, Japan had conquered around 1,500,000 kilometres squared of land, 150,000,000 people and 500,000 prisoners of war. As a result, the U.S.A. had a very respectable reason to bomb Japan. Despite this, they offered the Japanese the Potsdam Declaration, which, in simply terms, said surrender or face “prompt and utter destruction.” Following Japanese culture, they did not admit defeat, and, it can be said, Japan brought it upon themselves. In addition, if American President Harry Truman had not used the bombs, and the war had continued, it is likely that more deaths would have occurred, and then Truman would have been criticised if all those other deaths could have been prevented with the used of an atomic bomb. This is because the causalities could have easily exceeded the toll at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as the Americans planned to put into effect Operation Downfall, which involved the invasion of Japan by the U.S.A. Truman was advised by General Douglas MacArthur and other military commanders that the assault would result in one
“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you 're looking down, you can 't see something that 's above you.”
As the war continued and violence escalated, bombings caused enormous destruction and high death tolls, leading inevitably to the use of the atomic bombs. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki represented a culmination in the destructiveness of bombings, not a significant deviation from previous bombing practices. The alternatives to the use of the atomic bomb were likely to have caused equal suffering for the Japanese people. The use of the atomic bomb was no less moral than these horrific wartime practices. Harry Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb against Japan was justified by Japan’s refusal to immediately surrender. Harry Truman gave the Japanese time to surrender in order to preserve the existence of their people. They did not comply and as a result endured the consequences. (Walker) Yet an alternate perspective states that it was quite unnecessary to drop the Atomic Bombs in that Japan was practically an already defeated opponent. If a conditional surrender were to be issued by the United States to Japan in
On August 6th, 1945 sixty thousand people instantly disintegrated within a five-mile radius blast that erupted over Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later an even stronger blast was felt over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. Though thousands died, the technologic improvement from the original bomb did not go unnoticed. Both “Little boy” and “Fat man” were successful in collapsing the Japanese will to fight and on August 15th Japan surrendered to the United States. Without the introduction of the atomic bomb, no one can say for sure how long the war would have raged on for. As noted in the Battle of Midway the shortage of experienced pilots hindered Japan but advanced their tactics as well. Rather than training proficient pilots, the Japanese took a kamikaze approach to aerial combat and rammed fighter planes into the sides of US ships. At this point, the Japanese were literally willing to die for their country even if it meant complete suicide. The success of the Manhattan Project did