“I wanted to make radiation, visible” as a result the bomb became the beast. (Brothers, pg1). Metaphors in Cinema exist to help the public cope with societal problems such as death and fear of some kind. There is one monster in particular Godzilla, who was created through fear of an already existing threat atomic bombs. Godzilla a product of Japan, was used as a coping mechanism for their fear of the atomic bombs. Japan was the only country that suffered the effects of the atomic bombs. Not only did they have to cope with the fear of the nuclear bomb, but, with the effect of the bomb. Yet, the United States also needed a coping mechanism for cold war paranoia, and fear of science. Thus, the creation of “Them!” giant mutated ants that symbolized Americans fears. These films use the symbolism of destruction to show their fear and belief in the dangers of using science to make things such as nuclear weapons, and in even some occasions to show the destruction of a particular political ideal such as communism. Gigantic monsters are symbols that represent societal fear. The origins of these films is not one of entertainment, they exist to warn society and help society cope with their fears of death through events such as the atomic age. Monster films like Godzilla and big bug movies; show how humans turn their fear of death into symbolism, in monster movies. Threats and fears like nuclear bombs, atomic age, science, ideals, and war make people feel helpless, films like Godzilla
The end of World War Two in Europe, or V-E day made two things very clear. First, that America showed itself as a world power, and the second was that Russia had no intentions of leaving the land it had taken on its way to Berlin. With the war in the pacific still ongoing, the Americans had to turn its focus to the war on the islands and deal with Russia afterwards. Eventually in July of 1945, an end to the pacific theater of war came (V-J day) with the dropping of the two atomic bombs, little boy and fat man, on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The decision to drop the first bomb was made by new president Harry Truman, and was not only used to force Japan into an unconditional surrender, but also to intimidate the Solviet Union.
One of the most controversial and heavily scrutinized issue of the twentieth century was President Harry S. Truman’s decision to unleash atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The motives behind Truman’s actions are shrouded in controversy as top military officials publicly denounced the use of such a disastrous weapon. There is overwhelming evidence supporting both sides of the decision, as historians are split in opinion. The United States had been using conventional bombing to try to push Japan over the edge to surrender, but with countless Japanese civilians loyal to their country, invading Japan proved to be more problematic than first thought. Harry S. Truman made the ultimate decision of dropping the atomic bomb in hopes that it would end the war, but the amount of casualties caused by it has historians questioning if it was morally right, “The bomb was unfortunate, but it was the only means to bring Japan to a surrender,” historian Sadao Asada states (Bomb 9). Truman’s decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justifiable because they would ultimately lead to the end of the war and would demonstrate U.S. supremacy.
The birth of the Atomic bombs was during WWII, when the nations around the world were fighting against each other, due to disagreements between one another. At the beginning of the war, America was at a stalemate because they did not want to get involved in the war. Even though they were not involved in the war they were helping friendly allies with food supplies and ammunition. And then there was island to the east of the Korean peninsula, also known as Japan, who suddenly decided to send a full blown aerial attack on american territory. In december 7, 1941 Japan launched a full blown attack on Pearl Harbor, an American naval base. This was the turning point of WWII because this spark America to enter into a war. What the enemy did not know, was that the U.S. had a secret under their hands, and that was the weapon that would bring an end the war. An According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online. the first Atomic Bomb was build in Los Alamos New Mexico during WWII under the Manhattan Project ("Atomic Bomb." Encyclopaedia Britannica”). But after the bombs were drop the suffering of the Umany people, gave way for the questioning of the actions, some of these questions were : was it the right thing to do, what effect it had in the places that the bomb were dropped, how was America affected before, during, after and the bombs were dropped, what effect did the people had after experiencing the explosion, but the most important
Bombing two major cities may seem wrong but it was necessary in order to come out as a successful nation. During World War 2 on August 6th and 9th of 1945 the United States was the first country to use an atomic device against an enemy. This enemy was the country of Japan. After the Japanese killed thousands of U.S soldiers with their ruthless and unexpected attack on Pearl Harbour the United States released two atomic bombs on their two major cities. These cities were known as Nagasaki and Hiroshima. After the bombs were dropped the war was put to an end. The use of the atomic bombs is a widely debated topic on whether their use was necessary or not. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not only necessary to end the war but it was also necessary because many American lives were lost.
The necessity of the atomic bombs have long been debated in America. Although they did contribute to stopping the war, Americans still wonder if murdering Japanese civilians was a necessary means to an end, or if it could have been avoided. Some people believe that the war would have ended without using the bombs. Others believe they were the sole purpose that the war finally ended. Many people were involved with bringing the bombs to fruition, such as the scientists, the government and military leaders, and the very teams that flew them to their targets. Then the President addressed the situation and American citizens spoke their minds. All of these people had their own thoughts on whether the bombs were needed. In this essay, the opinions on the atomic bomb’s necessity will be reviewed by presenting both the pros and cons from a variety of sources.
The atomic bombs might have killed thousands, but the bombs also saved millions. Before the war even started Japan had a grudge on America for cutting off of their oil supplies. Germany lost to the allies after hitter committed suicide. Japan was the last remain axis power. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, America had a right to join the war and get revenge. When America dropped the bombs, they did their best not to harm many civilians. Also they saved more lives than they took. The atomic bomb was the best way toned the war efficiently.
World War II was considered as one of the deadliest war in the history. Many innocent civilians died due to the aggressiveness of the Axis powers because of this actions the Allies wanted to overthrow the Axis powers in response to its aggression and to establish a peaceful post-war. The United States decided to join the war along with the Allies after Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, which destroyed a lot of United States battleships. President Truman should have dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because of Japan’s bombing attack of United States naval base on Pearl Harbor which resulted in the United States to declare war on Japan, to end the inhumane actions of the Japanese soldiers to its
In the 20th century- 1945 to be exact- during World War 2 a burst of light followed by an immense explosion with more power than 20,000 tons of TNT headed for Hiroshima, Japan. This was the world’s first atomic bomb, and 3 days later another one was dropped but this time on the city of Nagasaki. The U.S. dropped these bombs in order to trap Japan in a corner and leave them no choice but to surrender. This controversial event has led many to wonder if it was in fact a military necessity and yes it was, not only did it stop the war, it saved the lives of many American and Japanese soldiers, and it stopped Japan from breaking the international laws of warfare.
It has been just over seven decades since the destructive atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. These bombs were the first of its kind-weapons of mass destruction. There are many points-of-view or opinions about whether or not the bombs should have been used. As always there are two sides to each story; those who are for a cause and those who are against. In this paper, I will discuss the two opposing points-of-view, as well as my own opinion on which argument I find most compelling.
World War II caused millions of deaths, civilian and otherwise. The death toll could have been much higher if the atomic bombs were not dropped. The United States made the correct decision to drop the atomic bombs. If the U.S. had not dropped these bombs the war could have carried on for years and taken millions more lives. If an invasion of Japan had taken place it would have likely taken years and millions of soldiers to cause surrender. No one wanted to prolong the war or cause more deaths than necessary, if the bombs had not been dropped history would likely be completely different.
Just to provide historical background information on the issue I am about to address I will first set the scene. On the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attacked lasted a little over two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President
Without the hindsight we have now, the atomic bomb seemed like the only reasonable choice to save American lives and to end the war. Wartime rules are not the same as rules during times of peace, people can make decisions they would rarely make without the duress of battle. Many today look at the ethical reasoning with views not available at the time. To understand the past you must “pretend you don’t know the present” (Fussell p. 24). This was not a case of diplomatic decisions but one of revenge and warfare (Long). Even some Japanese people understand the thought behind the decisions, debating that the Japanese could have used the technology if it had been available to them: “Despite the sufferings the attack caused, Matsushima feels
August 6th, 1945, 70,0000 lives were ended in a matter of seconds. The United States had dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Today many argue whether or not the U.S. should have taken such a drastic measure. Was it entirely necessary that we drop such a devastating weapon? To answer that first we must look at was going on in the world at the time of the conflict. The U.S. had been fighting a massive war since 1941. Moral was most likely low, and resources were at the same level as moral. Still both sides continued to fight and both were determined to win. Obviously the best thing that could have possibly happened would have been to bring the war to a quick end with a minimum of allied casualties. Harry Truman’s decision to
Some regard the atomic bomb as “the thank God for the atom bomb”. This places God on the U.S. side and regards the bombs as our saving grace. This bomb forced the Japanese to surrender which in turn proved the U.S. to be the heroes who saved the American’s lives.1 The Americans intended on ending the war but did not expect to end it with such a large number of casualties. The results of the atomic bomb and how it effected the Japanese people both emotionally and physically will be addressed. “The bombs marked both an end and a beginning—the end of an appalling global conflagration in which more than 50 million people were killed and the beginning of the nuclear arms race and a new world in which
This fear was evident in the science fiction films made in that decade. The Japanese, who had already suffered the most from the atomic fallout, were foremost in delivering this terror on film. Godzilla was the result of the American atomic ability. Godzilla wreaked havoc on Tokyo and Japanese citizens. Godzilla can be seen as a metaphor for the horrors the Japanese people endured and was a way to face their fears in the safety of a movie theater.