War Without Mercy by Dower Essay -- History World War II 2

War Without pardon by DowerIn War Without Mercy, Dowers principle is a surprising one Though Western ally were clearly headed for victory, pure racism fueled the persistence and increase of hostilities in the Pacific setting during the final year of World War II, a period that saw as galore(postnominal) casualties as in the first off five years of the conflict combined. Dower does not reach this upset conclusion lightly. He combed through loads of propaganda chooses, news articles, array documents, and cartoons. Though his case is strong, Dower reduces other factors, such as the prolonged negotiations between the West and the Japanese.During World War II, with the alliance of Germany and Italy made a propaganda campaign of obvious anti-white racism somewhat unreasonable. Furthermore, Japans history of rapid and very much passionate Westernization while opposing to colonialization by western powers largely veto such a propaganda approach. It is Dowers central idea that racial fear and nauseate were major factors that determined how both sides, Japanese and Anglo-American, perceived and dealt with the respective enemy, the conventional expression of Self and Other. Dower begins by examining the propaganda thrown out by both war machines (including a Frank Capra documentary, Know Your antagonist - Japan) and finds fundamental patterns of stereotyping. A few clichs that were found in this film was that it originally portrayed the Japanese as ordinary humans victimize by their leaders. In everyday words, he writes, the first kind of stereotyping could be summed up in the statement you argon the opposite of what you say you are and the opposite of us, not peaceful simply warlike, not good but bad...In the second form of stereotyping, the f... ...cking. It does a valuable service in exposing many of the prejudices of the time and especially in showing how those prejudices were at least partially responsible for the string of debacles endured by U.S. and other allied forces in the wars commencement stages. It also does a very good job of giving the commentator a glimpse of the kind of thinking that was prevalent in Japanese society prior to and during the war. In this sense it is an extremely important work on and is highly recommended to anyone with a serious interest in the Pacific Theater. However, having say that, I will also say that the author overplays his hand and puts further too much emphasis on the role of racism, portraying it as the primary cause of the war and of the evils that transpired during its execution. As a result, it has a magnetic inclination to explain away a good many complex issues that be a fuller treatment.