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Review of
Hiroshima
Matthew Stamper
HIST 4000
Dr. Dan Morrill
Ronald
Takaki holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of California,
Berkley where he is a professor of Ethnic Studies. In the book,
Hiroshima, the author, Ronald Takaki explores the reasoning behind
the dropping of the Atomic bomb during World War II. The author says
that “we need to have a serious and substantive debate, not casual and
uninformed opinions or attacks on the Smithsonian that suppress many
facts and stifle discussion.” Takaki argues that “imposing only one
version of history based on a narrow and biased selection of
evidence—what can be termed as political correctness—is wrong, whether
it comes from the left or the right.” However, Takaki seems to be
hypocritical when it comes to meeting his standards in Hiroshima.
Unconditional surrender plays a large role in Hiroshima.
Unconditional surrender was the notion that when Japan was defeated they
would have to surrender unconditionally, which would put them at the
mercy of the Allied Powers. Takaki argues that ending the war with
Japan was not as important as the fact that dropping the bomb would
scare the Soviet Union. Takaki argues that by July of 1945 Japan’s
military circumstances were extremely unstable. He believes that
Japan’s defeat was imminent and they would surrender conditionally.
One
thing that Takaki does not take into account is the fact that Harry
Truman had inherited the policy of unconditional surrender from one of
the most beloved presidents in US history, Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Truman lacked the ability to move away from this policy considering he
was fairly an unknown politician versus the man he had replaced. By
changing current policy Truman would have inevitably committed political
suicide. Truman felt that at the current moment he could not take any
action that would change public opinion on the issue.
Takaki
goes on to argue that the bomb was used primarily to scare the Soviet
Union. Takaki places emphasis on Russia’s looming entrance into the war
and claims that lawmakers of the US were seeking to ruin Stalin’s plans
for Asia. While this does happen to be one of the advantages of
dropping the bomb, Takaki portrays it as one of the most important
reasons. However, Takaki fails to emphasize the way in which the
Japanese were fighting the war. The Japanese were fighting a war that
could ruin their establishment if lost. In fact they feared the loss of
their emperor. The dropping of the bomb was the only way to show Japan
that defeat was inevitable. The Japanese would have continued to fight
if Emperor Hirohito had not stepped in directly telling his ministers:
“Unless the war be brought to an end at this moment, I fear that the
national polity will be destroyed, and the nation annihilated.”
Hirohito wanted the nation to meet the expectations of the Allies and
accept their defeat so that his subjects would not have to suffer any
further.
When
speaking of President Harry Truman’s decision to drop the A-bomb, Takaki
tends to speak of Truman in a negative light. Takaki attempts to put
race in the top reasons that Truman approved the dropping of Little Boy
and Fat Man. Takaki refers back to racial references from Truman’s
childhood and early adulthood to build the case of “racialization” as a
deciding factor leading to the use of the atomic bomb. He not only
places great emphasis on Truman’s racism but also goes into depth of the
racism of the entire United States. He uses examples such as the way
Japanese were depicted in the media as demons, savages, sub-humans, and
beasts. Takaki also goes in to depth when discussing the racial views
of the United States but only briefly discuses the fact that the
Japanese also had a racial ideology that positioned them as a superior
race. As that superior race they felt that it was their responsibility
to guide and inform the inferior.
Another point that Takaki says led to the use of the atomic bomb was
Truman’s lack of self esteem. He attempts to link the inferiority
complex that Truman had admitted having to the atomic bomb. Takaki
makes a gigantic leap when he infers that this was a reason that Truman
had chosen to OK the use of the atomic bomb. He tries to make it seem
that Truman used the a-bomb in order to make up for his lack of
masculinity.
Takaki’s Hiroshima is an interesting read. He offers a different
interpretation of the reasons that the US decided to use the atomic bomb
on Japan. He does have many primary sources, however he seems to use
them to best suit his personal agenda. He attempts to point the
majority of the responsibility of the use of the atomic bomb toward
Truman. However, Truman did accept responsibility. Takaki takes his
reasoning too far into Harry Truman’s personal life and background.
Takaki didn’t carry his mission of having an unbiased debate through the
book completely. Somewhere in the midst of the book he lost the vision
of the unbiased debate and became biased himself. Takaki said “imposing
only one version of history based on a narrow and biased selection of
evidence…is wrong”; however, Takaki was quite successful at doing what
he had said was wrong. His book does offer an alternative to the
traditional views of why the bombs were used, but the book itself is
based on narrow and biased evidence. This evidence is greatly negative
on President Truman and the American people.
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