Post by Kyra Benjamin on Nov 13, 2015 7:31:06 GMT
We learn a lot about WWII in school, it might be the thing we spend the most time on besides the civil war; but Barefoot Gen opens a new deeper perpspective of how things were on the other side of the line. We never go in depth into the situation in Japan for everyday citizens, at least not before the bombings, and this was really tragic. This was a war story, but one different I think from what we're familiar with. Some aspects were similar but based on this manga Japan went to more extreme means;it's an interesting comparison. America for the most part has never had to fight any of its wars on its own soil and the citizens haven't had to suffer in that respect. Everyone participated in the war effort with rationing and giving up certain foods and materials for the sake of the soldiers, but people were mostly still allowed their opinions. The media was certainly skewed to bring people in favor of the war, our "yellow journalism", but there wasn't this hive mind that you should be willing to sacrifice everything and anyone different should be branded and ostracized. This kind of behavior feels like the low of human existence, and logically serves no purpose.
We also had drafts although I believe in the manga it said the draft age was 20, while here it's 18 although we don't involve the studies of children and bring them into the war effort. And you could avoid the draft if you were a college student or deemed unfit to serve for a variety of reasons. But there were people who dodged the draft and I think this is the closest it gets to the mentality shown in Barefoot Gen; people who dodged were not always treated well and there were people who certainly spoke ill of them. And people were shamed into going even if afraid because you're supposed to do your part and etc.
Question: Do you think the mentality of the majority shown in Barefoot Gen is any different now?
We also had drafts although I believe in the manga it said the draft age was 20, while here it's 18 although we don't involve the studies of children and bring them into the war effort. And you could avoid the draft if you were a college student or deemed unfit to serve for a variety of reasons. But there were people who dodged the draft and I think this is the closest it gets to the mentality shown in Barefoot Gen; people who dodged were not always treated well and there were people who certainly spoke ill of them. And people were shamed into going even if afraid because you're supposed to do your part and etc.
Question: Do you think the mentality of the majority shown in Barefoot Gen is any different now?