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Justin Semones
History 4000
Dr. Morrill
June 2, 2008
First Book Review
In
Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb
Ronald Takaki provides fresh insights into the motivations behind America’s
bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in hopes of stimulating further
discussion and consideration of these dramatic and horrific events at
the close of World War Two. use of the atomic bomb
during World War II in hopes . In this work of historical Non-fiction, Takaki
questions some of the long-standing beliefs of the atomic bomb’s
military necessity. The three main points Takaki considers are Russian
Intimidation, American Racism and a Truman inferiority complex. He
suggests that these factors played a large role in the development and
implementation of the bomb. Takaki forges his argument by extensively
quoting many important players in the decision to use the new weapon to
its greatest military effectiveness. It is also important to consider
the writers position as a professor of ethnic studies and how this
circumstance might have affected his stance on the bombs use.
Takaki’s
argument is well researched and his prose flows quite smoothly. His
arguments are made quite tactfully but some of them fell short of
convincing this reader. For example, Takaki seems to suggest that the
use of the atomic bomb to intimidate the Russians did not quite work out
for Americans. While this opinion is a difficult one to advance it is
impossible to deny that the bomb gave the American negotiators at
Potsdam a strong bargaining chip; even Takaki intimates that Molotov,
the soviet foreign minister, was frightened by the jocular suggestion of
the bombs use against Russia.
In his
introduction Takaki says that one of his goals in writing Hiroshima
was to “allow the actors, such as President Truman and Secretary of
State Byrnes, to give their versions of what happened.” In this
endeavor Takaki extensively quotes the former president and his policy
makers—indeed he bolsters this dramatic theme by prefacing several of
his chapters with Shakespearian quotations. But does he over quote?
The use of quotations in historical analysis is of great importance, but
it is equally important to make an effective use of the given
quotation. There are several instances in Hiroshima where the
author uses three or more quotes in a single paragraph. This bevy of
quotation seems to detract from Takaki’s historical analysis. It is
also important to consider the limitations of a quote; the importance of
context is paramount. Some of the quotations implemented by Takaki are
so terse that it is hard to believe that the speakers are not being, at
least slightly, misinterpreted.
Takaki’s
position as a professor of ethnic studies should also be considered when
evaluating and conceptualizing his work. One of the main points the
writer considers in his reassessment of America’s decision to drop the
atomic bomb is American racism and prejudice against Asian people and
the Japanese in particular. Takaki seems to suggest that these feelings
of racism, established in the nineteenth century, played a role in
Truman’s decision to drop the bomb. He strenuously proves Truman’s
negative racial attitude towards African Americans, and intimates the
strong racial tension that grew in the hearts of many American soldiers
fighting in the Pacific. But he does not bring this argument home.
Primarily, Takaki fails to prove Truman’s disdain for the Japanese.
This section of Hiroshima could have been shorter and should have
focused more on American public opinion contemporary to the use of the
bomb.
Hiroshima
was ultimately an effective book. While it felt a bit biased, its main
purpose was to inspire debate and raise new ideas concerning the use of
atomic weaponry. In this goal it was successful. It is important in a
scholarly setting to raise such difficult questions, and make new
suggestions. If history goes unchallenged it becomes stagnant and
regurgitated. Only with such debate can we truly build a stronger idea
of the realities of a given historical event.
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