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Devastation and Cost of War -- Hiroshima/Born on July 4th

 

Hatsuyo Nakamura and her three children. The stories of these people tell of the agony caused by their injuries, and the effects that the injuries had on their lives.
             The town of Hiroshima had been leveled. Its people had been killed and injured, however they were still unwavering in their dedication to their country and the cause. Reverend Tanimoto commented that,.
             "When they came to know the war was ended - that is, Japan was.
             defeated, they, of course were deeply disappointed, but followed after their Emperor's commandment in calm spirit, making whole-hearted sacrifice for this everlasting peace of the world - and Japan started her new way" (84).
             It was the belief of the Japanese people throughout the war that what would be done would be done, and it could not be helped. Although the Japanese people were physically broken, their sense of duty would not be diminished.
             Although Hersey fully expounds upon the injuries suffered by his subjects, it is not in a manner so as to draw sympathy. Hersey's presentation of the facts is very straight forward, whereas Ron Kovic's Born on the Fourth of July obviously incorporates his opinions. A familiar phrase in Kovic's narrative includes the words Vietnam and veteran. When he is arrested, Kovic says, "I"m a Vietnam veteran! Don't you know what you"re doing to me?" Such phrases help to incite a sense of pity in the reader, while almost persuading them to support the author.
             The devastation that the Vietnam War caused Kovic to experience was both physical and emotional. Ron Kovic, a Marine in Vietnam, went on two tours of duty as a young adult. The second tour of duty would be life-changing, as he was shot, the bullet puncturing his lung and damaging his spinal cord, which would leave him paralyzed from the waist down. Born on the Fourth of July chronicles Kovic's journey in hospitals, his realizations of the reality of war, and his struggle as an anti-war activist.


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