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Post by Qian Lin on Nov 12, 2015 3:07:20 GMT
I really enjoy reading Barefoot Gen because the pictures are very vivid and enjoyable reading. I think the manga really makes me get into the story because I feel the pictures can show people , environment and situation in vivid ways. Personally, I really enjoy reading the manga Barefoot Gen. The story really shocks me because I never know that how harsh the life of Japanese people in the WWII. The life of Barefoot Gen's family is not easy because his father's anti-war ideology. His father's belief makes his whole family become the traitors of Japan. They get humiliated by neighborhood, teachers and officers. I think the normal people can not control the war but they are victims of the war. I ask myself if someone asks me to go to war, I will definitely reject it. I think it is not easy for us to exchange our lives for something else. In this situation, the propaganda becomes a tool which makes people believe something beyond their own life, which is the loyalty to the emperor. If they sacrifice their lives in the war which means they sacrifice for the emperor. Then their lives will be glorified. I think propaganda is the political tool for recruiting the soldiers for the war.
Discuss Question:
If there is a war in your home country, are you going to fight for your country?
which will be the main factor that you go to the war? Which will be the main factor that you do not go to the war?
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Post by Alexis Iguina on Nov 13, 2015 1:33:38 GMT
If there is a war in my country (which at times im not sure if there is or not) I would not fight. One reason is because I am a pacifist. I don't believe anything good comes out of mass killings. I accept that sometimes the human kind needs to fight, to vent out frustration or to protect, but conflicts should only involve the people who cause the issue. I feel like if I'm a solider I won't only kill the enemy but I will be forced to directly or indirectly kill innocent civilians (who are counted as collateral damage). I feel like I would have to dehumanize myself to fulfill the role. The Americans dropped a bomb on two areas that involved the young, the old, moms, dads, children, a plethora of innocent people. People who had no say in how the war was taking place. Another reason is because it may not be worth it. In the manga, we read about the kamikaze's story. There was a scene where a captain of some sort mentioned how the suicide bombings didn't fulfill it's task to destroy an American ship. Thus in the end, the plan crash and death was for nothing. On page 162 Nakazawa writes "As the war neared its end, each class boasted nearly 3,000 volunteers. Used like so many HUMAN BULLETS, their young ives were snuffed out one after the other." As a soldier you're simply a tool for the higher ups.
One main factor I would become a solider is to support my family. During wartime, there is little opputunity as everything is devoted to the war effort. People like the drunk kamikaze pilot can no longer pursue research in college and children like Gen's siblings can no longer go to school to learn but instead have to work in the field or factory. So there is only hope in becoming a soldier. It essentially provides a job in a time where everything is destitute.
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