Compare & Contrast 3 Essays
Uploaded by jacky89 on Jan 08, 2000
The three essays, "Thank God For The Atom Bomb" by Paul Fussel, "Democracy" by Carl Becker, and "Chief Seattle: Letter to President Pierce, 1855" are three different rhetorical modes of writing that exposits theoretical, personal reasoning on the realities of certain controversial historical topics. The main focus of the essays are in proving a steadfast view of an ambiguous subject through sarcastic criticism of opposing ideas and by applying clever use of irony; the authors’ sentiments vary from imperialistic to anti-imperialistic, and from attesting to detesting a past event.
"Thank God For The Atom Bomb" is a straightforward imperialistic literature which analyzes cause and effect to justify the use of the Atomic bomb during World War 2. The author continuously criticizes the evil of the Japanese in an attempt to convince the reader why the "Japs" deserved what they got. He sites a Japanese pilot saying, "All Japanese must become soldiers and die for the Emperor" to prove his point that the general mentality of the enemy was just that –"implacable, treacherous, barbaric"(p460), and savage. He consistently acknowledges his up-close experience with the war to inform the reader that he has sufficient basis for his analysis. But to reinforce his authenticity that his view is not just possessed by himself, he borrows many statements and examples used by others who share his ideas. The U.S. war committee already drew out plans for a full-scale coastal assault and that was about to take action anytime; if the bomb was not to be dropped, an armed invasion on the mainland would call for a hellish massacre of unpredictable proportions on both the American and Japanese side. He noted a British observer saying "But for the atomic bombs, ... they would have annihilated the lot of us"(p457). Just preventing an anticipated one million American casualties was sufficient cause for the Nagasaki bomb that "led to peace"(p459).
The effect of the bomb should be obvious that "the killing was all going to be over, and peace was actually going to be the state of things"(p462). Though not a very compassionate statement, it is true to the fact that the war was over and the killing has come to an end; the reason being that the Japanese has already been killed. "We were going to grow to adulthood after all"(p462) and instantly, it seems that this explosive miracle has brought "relief and joy"(p462) to the world, or...