World War II Anti-Japanese Propaganda
“The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” (Declaration of
War Against Japan) These words were said by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt in his declaration of war on Japan on December 8, 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor marked the official entry of the United States involvement in World War II and sparked a barrage of anti-Japanese propaganda. From posters to leaflets, radio messages to the attack on Pearl
Harbor, the public of the United States was constantly the center of attention for psychological warfare. Propaganda of the World War II period reflected the American people’s anti-Japanese sentiment.
Twenty years after the conclusion of World War I, Germany, Italy, and Japan started an international aggression campaign that would eventually bring the United States into a second global conflict. “Let’s Put the Axe to the Axis” was a popular wartime propaganda song pushing action toward breaking the Axis’ power (The Enduring Vision 910). The Axis was the name given to the German, Japanese and Italian alliance. The Allied powers were the United States, Great Britain, France, and later, Russia. The
Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis, as it is called, formed in 1936-1937, and the Allied countries came together shortly after. The United States did not want to enter the war, and as late as mid-November in 1941, the US felt “the most essential thing now, from the United States standpoint, is to gain time.”
December 7, 1941, the “date which will live in infamy,” the United
States was attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Until December, the
Japanese had pursued two courses of action for the current situation. They attempted to get the oil embargo lifted without giving up the territory they wanted, and to prepare for war. On the other side, the US demanded the withdraw of Japanese troops from Indochina and China. All of this became irrelevant by mid-October. Japan’s new premier, General Tojo Hideki secretly set November 29, 1941 as the last day Japan would accept a settlement with the United States without war. Since the deadline was kept secret, it meant war was almost certain. The Japanese felt very confident with their plans for war. The army and navy had proposed to ma...
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...ds, throw reason out the window, and follow courses of action we may regret later”
(http://newdeal.feri.org).
Works Cited
Boyer, Clark, Kett, Salisbury, Sitkoff and Woloch.
The Enduring Vision Second Edition
“Declaration of War Against Japan”, World War II,
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
Delwiche, Aaron www.propagandacritic.com http://orpheus.uscd.edu/speccoll http://web.mit.edu/21h.153j/www The Independent Institute www.independent.org Johnson, Paul www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/propaganda.html Merriam-Webster Dictionary
National Archives and Records Administration, www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/Japanese_relocation.html Pearl Habor, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
Rense, Jeff www.rense.com Thurston, Thomas http://newdeal.feri.org “Wartime Propaganda”, Propaganda, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia
Most black Americans are under the control of the criminal justice today whether in parole or probation or whether in jail or prison. Accomplishments of the civil rights association have been challenged by mass incarceration of the African Americans in fighting drugs in the country. Although the Jim Crow laws are not so common, many African Americans are still arrested for very minor crimes. They remain disfranchised and marginalized and trapped by criminal justice that has named them felons and refuted them their rights to be free of lawful employment and discrimination and also education and other public benefits that other citizens enjoy. There is exists discernment in voting rights, employment, education and housing when it comes to privileges. In the, ‘the new Jim crow’ mass incarceration has been described to serve the same function as the post civil war Jim crow laws and pre civil war slavery. (Michelle 16) This essay would defend Michelle Alexander’s argument that mass incarcerations represent the ‘new Jim crow.’
The work by Victor M. Rios entitled Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys and Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness depict ways in which policing and incarceration affect inequalities that exist in society. In this body of work I will draw on specific examples from the works of Victor M. Rios and Michelle Alexander to fulfill the tasks of this project. Over the course of the semester and by means of supplemental readings, a few key points are highlighted: how race and gender inequalities correlate to policing and incarceration, how laws marginalize specific groups, and lastly how policing and incarceration perpetuate the very inequalities that exist within American society.
Pi Patel in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is a young Indian boy who is put through a tremendous traumatic experience; he gets lost at sea! Not only does he lose all his family, but he is forced to survive 227 days at sea with very limited resources. This ordeal causes great psychological pressure on Pi and causes his mind to find ways to cope with all the stress. When asked to describe what happened, Pi tells two stories: one with him surviving with animals including an adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, and a parallel story with humans in which Pi is forced to bend morality. Pi’s story of his survival with Richard Parker is a fiction that he creates to cope with a reality that is too difficult to face.
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a thorough and thought provoking analysis of mass incarceration in America. Through this book Alexander explores the dynamics of the criminal justice system and the propaganda that enables it which have led to the establishment and maintenance of a racial undercaste system that has been perpetuated by a felony criminal record. Within this book Alexander provides a history of the disenfranchisement of the black male from the overt racism of slavery and Jim Crow to the colorblind drug and sentencing policies of the 20th and 21st century.
Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor was intended to be a preventive act in order to keep the United States Navy from intruding on their military plans. Why Japan would try to take on a force they knew they could not overcome still stands in question. Japan was already engaged in a four-year war in China and debating an attack on the Soviet Union, so why engage in a war with a country with tremendous industrial advantage? The United States was not only on the opposite side of the world but had a much stronger military force. The United States had more military weapons, tactics, and forces than other countries. When attacking Pearl Harbor Japan opted to fight a war with an enemy that had the capability to wage an unstoppable war against them.
Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” shows all three of the main elements of a hero’s journey: the departure, initiation and the return, helping the story to greatly resemble Joseph Campbell’s structure of a hero’s journey. Through the trials Pi has to face, he proves himself to be a true hero. He proves himself, not just while trapped on the lifeboat with Richard Parker, but also before the sinking of the Tsimtsum. His achievement to fulfill the heroic characteristics of Campbell’s model are evident as he goes though the three stages.
...se them to geographic targeting, police brutality, disproportionate incarceration and sentencing rates. Get tough on crime ideologies as well as mass incarceration practices encouraged by mainstream American citizens and policy makers alike, result in further oppression and complicate individual’s abilities to achieve social and economic success. In order for the United States to attain a “post-racial status,” biases in society should be eliminated therefore encouraging police bias’ to be removed, additional concern should be had for individuals in low-income, urban areas, and sentencing and arrest practices should be equalized across all races. Many sociological issues have a role in how the criminal justice system operates and until further notice, it remains unequal and supportive of racist policies that keep this country from attaining a “post racial status”.
Having been spread out over more land and involved more people than any other war in history, many believe World War II is also the most historic war in as well. There has never been a war of such immense importance and such a gigantic magnitude. The United States served an absolutely vital role in the outcome of this war. The U.S. was faced with the duty of taking on two different wars at the same time in two different places in the world. Something that many countries would have backed away from. The European front was without hesitation the more evident of the two considering the unquestionable mayhem and evils that were being committed by Adolf Hitler. United States involvement on the European front was unavoidable and, generally much easier for U.S. forces to get to. Having fought in Europe less than thirty years prior, the U.S. was familiar with the territory and proper strategy. The Pacific Campaign of World War II offered an incomparable test for the United States Armed Forces. U.S. Armed Forces had never fought in the South Pacific or even on terrain that resembled the conditions in which they would be faced with in the Pacific Islands. With the Army deeply involved in Europe, in December of 1941 the United States found it self stuck in a war that it was not ready for and had no idea how to fight. However, the United States Marine Corps were the ideal company for the kind of combat they would be faced with in the Pacific. Marines had adequate training for land to sea combat. The Marine Corps fighting in the Pacific gave the U.S. its only chance of being successful against the Japanese military.
Some of the most important historical developments that Beckett (1997) attributed to the politicization of criminal justice practices and policies were beginning with the civil rights movement. There was a tremendous amount of discourse occurring during this time about whether or not African Americans should have the same rights as whites. As well as, the thought that many African Americans were responsible for the increase in crime. Therefore, in the political sector we saw a power struggle between the Democrats and the Republicans. The Republicans wanted to portray the issues that crime and drug use were increasing rapidly due to the way the African Americans were raised.
The United States entered WW II immediately following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The U.S. entry was a major turning point in the war because it brought the strongest industrial strength to the Allied side. The Americans helped the Allies to win the war in Europe with the surrender of Germany on May 7, 1945. However, the war in the Pacific continued. The war with Japan at this point consisted primarily of strategic bombings. America had recently completed an atomic bomb and was considering using this weapon of mass destruction for the first time. The goal was to force the “unconditional surrender” of the Japanese. Roosevelt had used the term “unconditional surrender” in a press conference in 1943 and it had since become a central war aim. Truman and his staff (still feeling bound by FDR’s words) demanded unconditional surrender from the Japanese. Consequently on July 26, 1945 Truman issued an ultimatum to Japan. This ultimatum stated that Japan must accept “unconditional surrender” or suffer “utter devastation of the Japanese Homeland”. This surrender included abdication of the throne by their emperor. Japan was not willing to surrender their dynasty and ignored the ultimatum. On August 6th and August 9th, atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
Life of Pi is so compelling to read and yet it is such difficult concept to truly understand. Yann Martel's novel, Life of Pi, is the about of Piscine Patel, who prefers it as Pi. At his age of sixteen, he survived for 227 days on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a hungry tiger to worry about. There were other inhabitants on the boat as well, a zebra, a hyena and an orangutan. Yann Martel is such a great author that he has masked one story over the other story though the work of Pi. Pi hides his second, true story by trying to give the people on the boat different appearances, in his devout triad of religions, and disembodying himself from his own thoughts. Pi hides his second story, in the first story, by trying to disembody himself from his own thoughts. To do so he had used physical look of Pi’s emotions, religion, and though circus acts.
...h up their session, Pi asks them, “‘So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer?’” The factual or provable existence of God is not necessarily relevant to whether someone should believe in Him. This requirement of proof for belief is typical of the agnostic, whose sole belief is that he or she cannot believe either way because there is no proof either way. However, life is a story, and in real life, there must be a story to tell. When it comes to Life of Pi, there is hardly any difference between life and story, so how could the novel not mimic life, being the story of a life itself? A life perhaps embellished to become better, just as readers must embellish their own lives in favor of the better story.
...knowledge his shadow self. He was able to survive his plight on the lifeboat because of the characteristics of his shadow self, Richard Parker. Even at the loss of his shadow self, Pi remains connected and constantly misses this part of his persona. After his ordeal on the lifeboat, Pi becomes rational and humane; however his experiences has scarred him, and will forever remain with him. Readers can definitely learn from Pi’s experience with his shadow self. The more we refute our shadow, the more it weighs us down. However, if we are willing to come to terms with the reality of our shadow, learn how it works, “tame” it so that it does not control us, we would be more literate and enlightened.
Pi’s character develops in several ways throughout the novel. Often, people mature with age, but life-threatening episodes can accelerate the maturation process. In Pi’s situation, the crashing of the Tsimtsum accelerates his maturation, which is a key component to his survival. More specifically, Pi becomes more spiritually mature, independent and intelligent afterwards. These changes allow Pi to cope with his surroundings and help him remain hopeful. Overall, Pi is a unique character whose personality is shaped by his life-threatening voyage, which makes him more spiritual, independent, intelligent and thankful.
While practicing Hinduism and the gods associated with the religion, Pi soon encounters Jesus Christ, “It was Lord Krishna speaking. I heard him. And I followed him…Lord Krishna led me to meet one man…I met Jesus Christ” (55). This point in the novel expresses character development because Pi Patel moves away from society’s norms of one religion and decides to follow multiple ones. As Pi Patel’s exploration of different religions began, he stated, “[it] bothered me, the less I could forget him. And the more I learned about him, the less I wanted to leave him” (63). Prior to learning the conventions of this new religion [Christianity], Pi Patel has built a close relationship with Jesus Christ and cannot forget his newly found beliefs. In fact, Pi states that he feels closer to god because he practices more than one religion. Ultimately, this indicates that Pi is willing to do anything in order to become closer with God to gain that sense of hope and faith. In the novel there are many Christian symbols, including: the fish at sea and the ship itself. In Pi’s journey to Canada he is aboard a ship which sinks, “The ship was sinking. My mind could hardly conceive it” (114). In Christianity, the ship is recognized as a symbol to represent a church. When the ship Pi and his family are aboard sinks, it indicates that the event was an act of god. God is testing Pi’s beliefs and his loyalty to god by