Essay Sample On The Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima And Nagasaki

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” said Robert Oppenheimer, on July 16th, 1945. He was quoting from the Bhagavad-Gita, a Hindu scripture, after seeing the first denotation of the atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer was a researcher and designer of the atomic bomb, often referred to as “the father of the atomic bomb” (Temperton). World World II was a long, bloody war and in 1945 the only Axis power left to surrender was Japan. Japan had been fighting relentlessly, even encouraging killing oneself instead of surrendering, called Kamikaze. During this time the Manhattan Project created the first atomic bomb, and the United States had just the place for a real-world test. Japan and the U.S. were at their wit’s end and were ready to end this war one way or another. The U.S. brought the war and world to a halt when they detonated not one, but two atomic bombs in Japan. On August 6th, 1945 over half the people in Hiroshima became statistics in a casualties list and nearly half of them were dead. Only two days later nearly ⅓ of the people in Nagasaki became casualties, over half of them were dead. This is nearly 0.3% of Japan’s 77 million population (O'Neill). The United States was not justified in dropping the atomic bombs because it was impetuous and unethical to massacre innocent civilians, residents murdered for the sake of provocation and intimidation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union; a warning explosion would have convinced Japan's leaders to surrender without rash, senseless butchering of innocent families.

The unethical essence of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was seen immediately after denotation. The immediate effect of the bombing was devasting estimated to have killed 226,000 people (Listwa). However, the placement of these bombings was primarily in civilian areas, not military. Only 8.9% of the casualties were military************. There were also other ethnic like the high Korean population ***********. It caused massive destruction leveling both cities to the ground and the ecosystem. There are still traced amounts of radiation today. Lasting impacts could be considered worst than the immediate. Many people died later after the fact, due to their injuries, radiation, or diseases caused by the incident. Many suffered because of this. There is even a case of a double survivor, a man who survived both bombings, he died at an old age from an illness derived from the bombings. The bombings even caused a 46% risk of Leukemia (Listwa). Even with the aid of the country people who survived the bombing and their generations after were discriminated against. Thought to have a contagious disease.  The lasting impact of these bombings was not just felt in Japan but also throughout the world with the Kajui Godzilla. Made in 1954, only a few months after the "Castle Bravo" incident, and directed by Ishirō Honda, Godzilla is a satire on Japan’s atomic and hydrogen bombings. ---------The story of Godzilla feeds on the human fear of the unknown and existential, “In a very real sense the power that is unleashed by a nuclear weapon or a nuclear accident are otherworldly, eldritch, incomprehensible and extremely deadly. And that is how they play Godzilla.” showing how neither party could have imagined the impact of the bombings ("Trope Talk" 5:58-6:06). When the movie was released in the U.S. it was heavily cut down to avoid the political message. Even now, the Godzilla movies still carry the debate on whether atomic bombs are good or not ("Trope Talk").--- The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were very unethical, but the U.S. government wants to intimidate the U.S.S.R. for political reasons overruled the unethical nature.

Political tensions were growing in tension between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with the Soviet’s Union’s growing influence. The USSR had been gaining influence in Eastern Europe around this time, creating satellite states----- There are documents showing that the USSR was very interested in the bombings of Japan------ taking samples, and studying the fallout **********. The US has disliked the USSR because of their communist beliefs for years even leading to the Red Scared where people were blacklisted and lives ruined based on accusations alone. Even though they had an alliance for the war, it was extremely uneasy, and Stalin kept increasing his price (Kort). The US saw the USSR as a threat and wanted to prove that it could hold its own. This imparts why the US made the Manhattan project, to begin with. The U.S.’s want for intimidation over the USSR was unnecessary since Japanese leaders were getting ready to surrender.

Being close to surrendering and ending the war, Japanese leaders asked the Soviet Union for help with negations with the United States. The battles in Japan were very brutal for both sides and they both wanted the war to end, Japan had asked the USSR for help to be an advocate for them in negation with the US, however at the time they did not know that the USSR had declared war on them. When they found out they were really worried, Russia had a very impressive military and Japan was quite close to them, and could make this war a two-front war.  Because of these factors, Japan was starting to discuss surrendering to its courts. The legal process takes time and not all the leaders wanted to surrender ("Debate over"). Then they were hit by the first bombing only learning about it---- later *****. The discussion of surrender was increased, but only three days later the second bombing occurred, and ultimately Japan surrendered ("Debate over").

Though the atomic bombs were detonated, that does not mean that it was justified. This action was extremely unethical, causing horrible immediate, lasting, and social effects. This was about ending the war, but it was mostly an intimidation tactic against the Soviet Union. The worse part is that Japan was getting ready to surrender so the bomb was unnecessary. Showing the world the strength and terror the United States is capable of doing. This led to the start of the Arms Race of the Cold War and the justification of making more destructive bombs. The U.S. used Japan not surrendering yet, as an opportunity to flaunt the Soviet Union. This ended up helping the U.S.S.R. make their atomic bomb, and then the process of the U.S. and U.S.S.R. trying to one-up the other, each with new and more deadly machinery. Lending to tensions between global superpowers even today, adding to humanity’s existential dread and fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). The senseless butchering of innocent people, the ulterior motives of the detonators, and the lack of patients exhibit the lack of justification for dropping atomic bombs on Japan.