Analysis Of Mass Development Of Racial Stereotypes During WWII

War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War, written by historian John Dower attempts to provide an explanation for how the horrific battles between the Japanese and Americans in World War Two encouraged a racially motivated hatred amongst both sides. Dower argues that sensitive tragedies such as Pearl Harbor influenced a mass development of racial stereotypes which created an overall acceptance towards the use of demoralizing behavior of both cultures. Dower contends the war was dependent on racism “To scores of millions of participants, the war was also a race war. It exposed raw prejudices and was fueled by a racial pride, arrogance and rage on many sides” (4).

Dower is trying to prove that the feud between Americans and the Japanese fighting in World War Two was motivated by race. Dower claims both sides used racial differences to further criticize each other which only added more aggression overall. Dower uses previous ages of western imperialism to showcase how Americans were motivated to be racist in the past. Dower assets that Pearl Harbor was a major influence as it was a sensitive tragedy that encouraged many Americans to seek revenge against the Japanese. Dower claims that due to the brutality of Pearl Harbor many Americans utilized imageries of violence, and propaganda to quickly seek revenge. Dower claims, “the Western Allies, for example, consistently emphasized the ‘subhuman’ nature of the Japanese, routinely turning to images of apes and vermin to convey this” (Dower 9). Moreover, Dower further explains America’s hatred of the Japanese by comparing the alleged cons of both of America’s primary war enemies: Japan and Germany. While the Germans committed just as many atrocities as the Japanese did, America despised the Japanese even more. Dower explains that one of the reasons why the Japanese were hated more instead of the Germans was because “In keeping with their practice of distinguishing between good and bad Germans, Allied critics tended to describe these as ‘Nazi’ atrocities rather than behavior rooted from German culture or personality structure” (Dower 34).

These pieces of evidence from this novel are clearly strong and help support Dower’s claim of why the Japanese were racially targeted and discouraged during World War Two. It represents how Americans differentiated German and Japanese personalities as a whole, and it also represents how Americans portrayed the Japanese after the events of Pearl Harbor. Dower utilizes American war propaganda to provide evidence to his overall claim that Americans during World War Two had an erupting racial hatred of the Japanese which only heightened due to the rise of war propaganda that portrayed the Japanese in a demoralizing manner. Dower notes due to the brutality of Pearl Harbor many Americans established the Japanese to be traitors as, “the single word favored above all others by Americans as best characterizing the Japanese people was “treacherous,” and for the duration of the war the surprise attack on the U. S. Pacific Fleet remained the preeminent symbol of the enemy's inherent treachery” (Dower 36). American war propaganda would continuously depict the Japanese as treacherous beings. On page 188, Dower showcases the aggression many Americans felt regarding the Japanese by providing a piece of propaganda.

The headline of the given propaganda is, “Throw In An Extra Charge”, which depicts Japan with a gun pointed towards them, and it also shows an American sailor carrying a bag that states, “war without mercy on a treacherous foe. ” Dower utilizes this piece of propaganda to provide evidence to his notion of how Americans depicted Japanese as treacherous individuals. The cartoon was published only three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many Americans felt an overwhelming amount of hate towards the Japanese during this time, which only fueled further forms of imageries depicting the Japanese as treacherous. Dower also includes Japanese forms of propaganda to analyze how both sides used imageries of hostility and racism to depict one another. There were many different variations of propaganda that happening that ranged from movies to music and by cartoons which were by far the most popular version of propaganda. The propaganda went to the extent that it was aimed at children like the one on page 188 making it appear that if you are a young American boy you should grow up hating the Japanese. It seems to be the heroic thing to do although young children do not understand what is really going on, it is brainwashing the youth.