Comfort Women Memorial Statues

Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was Divine is a story about a Japanese-American family and their experience in an internment camp in Utah. In the book, the young girl says to her mother “Is there anything wrong with my face?... People were staring” (15). The reader can see from this quote what it was like for the Japanese-Americans during the war. The quote shows how it was not just a national problem; it was a problem for everyone- including making a ten year old girl feel self-conscious. What makes this stand out from the others is that as far as the reader knows, she has not done anything wrong. She also has no clue as to why people are being discriminatory towards her, hence why she has to ask her mom. What she has yet to learn is that

Finally, the World War two can be termed as the darkest and evil period in the history of man. However, this book, “Unbroken” has briefly explained the events that led to this war, the destruction of Nagasaki and Hiroshima by the atomic bomb (Hillenbrand 33). It also comprises a quote from the Prisoner of war who thinks that in most cases, “the end always justifies the means”, similarly to what happened in the WWII.

The need to memorialize events or people is complex; in some cases, monuments honor moments of great achievement, while in other cases, monuments pay homage to deep sacrifice. A monument 's size, location, and materials are all considerations in planning and creating a memorial to the past. In any case, the need to honor or pay homage to a specific person or event is prevalent within society. A monument has to mean something to the society it is place in. The location of a monument is perhaps the most important aspect of creating a successful monument to honor and show respect to a person or event. Kirk Savage suggests in Source A (Savage), “The public monument speaks to a deep need for attachment that can be met only in a real place, where

Hersey’s straight, simple narrative technique presents the catastrophe in its raw form, including the voices of those who experienced the bombing firsthand. He does so without showing bias or raising the question of whether or not the United States should have dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. While many citizens of Hiroshima “continued to feel a hatred for Americans which nothing could possibly erase,” (117) some, like Mrs. Nakamura, “remained more or less indifferent about the ethics of using the bomb.” (117). Despite mixed reactions of the people of Hiroshima themselves, never does the author condemn the decision to drop the bomb, nor does he condone

During World War II, invisibility was more than just not being seen. Soldier or civilian, they were both made invisible literally and figuratively; most times even both. In the book, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, we are introduced to Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner who is drafted into World War II. On a rescue mission, the plane he works on runs out of fuel and the engines malfunction, causing the plane to crash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Three survive the crash, including Louie. However, one man does not survive the 47 days spent at sea before they are found by Japanese sailors. From that point forward, Louie was invisible since he was excluded from the outside world and objectified. It was not until he was taken to a POW camp that efforts

For many years people have been arguing whether certain controversial monuments, such as statues, should be destroyed or removed. A common type of monuments in this situation are the Confederacy monuments. These are various statues across the US which honor Confederate leaders or “heroes”. Many see these offensive since those people basically oppressed African Americans for years and were fighting to keep doing so. Some argue that the monuments should not be damaged or tampered with anyway since, even though the person might not have been the best, it is a historical artifact which therefore, should be preserved. The conflict surrounds whether the monuments should be destroyed, stored (in a museum etc), or left to remain. Personally, I believe that monuments, if historical, should not be damaged in anyway, but left to remain, or in specific occasions, preserved in a museum.

Imagine living in a period in which the realities of war encased the world, and the lethal potential to end all suffering was up to a single being. During World War II, tensions between Japan and the United States increased. Despite pleas from US President, Harry Truman, for Japan to surrender, the Japanese were intent on continuing the fight. As a result, Truman ordered the atomic bomb, a deadly revolution in nuclear science, to be dropped on the towns of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. President Harry Truman, in his speech, “Announcement of the Dropping of the Atomic Bomb,” supports his claim that the dropping of the A-bomb shortened the war, saved lives, and got revenge by appealing to American anger by mentioning traumatic historical events and

Imagine not being able to walk outside at night or having to sell your possessions and abandon your home to spend years behind barbed wire—even though you’d done nothing wrong. For Japanese Americans during World War II, this scenario was reality. The freedom they once had is now gone, as they are put into concentration camps no longer in their home. Now having to line up for meals and to do laundry, thing you did before on a normal basis, while being hovered over. The internment of Japanese Americans in the U.S. was the act of forcing those of Japanese decent to relocation and incarcerating them during World War II. Between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry was under armed guard and behind barbed wire living on the

In the 1940’s there is no doubt that the United States of America was engulfed by mass anti-Japanese hysteria which inevitably bled over into America’s foreign policy. During this period Japanese people living in both Japan and the United States of America were seen as less that human. Japanese-Americans living on the west coast were savagely and unjustifiably uprooted from their daily lives. These Japanese-Americans were pulled from their jobs, schools, and home only to be pushed to

When learning about and analyzing acts of mass atrocity during World War II, hundreds if not thousands of questions can be asked trying to gain a deeper understanding for their actions. Probably one of the most intriguing thoughts to ponder is what leads individuals and societies as a whole to descend to such a level of cruelty. According to the author of Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand, one reason may be, “Few societies treasured dignity, and feared humiliation, as did the Japanese, for whom a loss of honor could merit suicide. This is likely one of the reasons why Japanese soldiers in World War II debased their prisoners with such zeal, seeking to take from them that which was most painful and destructive to lose” (189). To elaborate, the Japanese

Monuments that are constructed in order to give commendation to people, places, or events are located all over the globe. It is very possible for someone to find a few in their very own town. Although there may be negative controversy on certain monuments, many throughout the world have changed individual’s lives tremendously in a beneficial way. One monument in particular has stood tall through it all and has had so much positive effect on millions of people from the beginning of time. One hundred and thirty years later this monument continues to impact people’s lives from all over the world.

Shortly after the conclusion of the Civil War which resulted in over 620,000 deaths, the reeling United States of America created the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to honor the soldiers who passed during service to their country. The monument symbolizes that there is no American who dies in battle that goes unforgotten. I personally have never gotten the privilege to visit the cemetery, but I have had the opportunity to see other monuments such as, the WWII Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. These memorials have the same overwhelming feeling of respect and gratitude for the men and women who gave their lives for the life we have today. Based on this information, I

Women were not allowed to smoke in public, they couldn’t even leave the house without an older woman or a married woman. Of course as we all know women can do that now. Women also had to wear nice long professional dresses when they were in public view. It was unacceptable for a woman to smoke in public. Many found it unladylike, today women smoke in public. Women were also expected to stay at home and cook food and take care of the children and whatever house work needed to be done. Some women were allowed to have jobs but it wasn’t any factory jobs or major work like the guys did that didn’t believe the girls could do better or at all. Girls were either nurses, secretaries or servants. After World War I started the jobs did change, women

In this paper, I will discuss the signing of Executive Order 9066, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, regarding the Japanese relocation and connecting back to the Pearl Harbor attack, thus, resulting in further negative opinions of both the first generation Japanese and the second generation of Japanese Americans.

What do you think about Confederate Statues? Should cities and governments be allowed to take these statues down? The city of New Orleans had this problem. Many people were for taking the statue down and many against taking it down. The statue should be taken down seeing that as, the statues are an inaccurate representation of our past, many people don’t want to look in the past, and this statue didn’t honor the hero, but honored a killer instead.