This Term we studied three texts all about war and how it affected people and the society. From these texts, I have gained more knowledge to how war can destroy people and a society in more ways then one. Gary Disher and Hiroshima by John Hersley (extract) call these three texts Paradise Road (film), The Divine Wind. From studying the extract Hiroshima by John Hersley, I have gained Knowledge to how the war affected the people of Japan. This extract gave me an insight to human nature to see how such a complicated thing it is.
It showed me that through the brutality, hatred and ignorance of war that if people have a little bit of hope they can get through it. This text talks about a Japanese woman called Hatsuyo Nakamura who was a survivor of the Atom bombs that were dropped on Japan during the war. Her story tells us how hard life had become for the Japanese during and after the war had finished. This shows us that the “enemy” was just as affected by the war as everyone else perhaps they were even worse of then the rest of us.
Ms Nakamura was affected by the bomb in a bad way but others would consider her lucky cause she was not mutated from the bomb. It was a struggle for Ms Nakamura to work and provide for what was left of her family. She got so tired that she had to take two days of rest for every three days of work. If she were obliged for some reason to work for a whole week, she would need four days of rest. The Japanese government was no help to its people it did not supply any relief for those people affected by the bomb the government wanted nothing to do with the people affected by the bomb.
Society was harsh on the People affected by the bomb. People who were affected by the bomb found it hard to get work as employers found them unreliable because they were prone to all sorts of aliments and diseases. It was said, “That unspeakable diseases might at any time plant nasty flowers inn the bodies of their victims, and even inn those of their descendants. ” This text shows us that war destroyed this woman’s life and her society was in no better shape then she was.
The second Text I studied this term was the film Paradise road it is directed by Bruce Beresford. This film is about a group of women all different nationalities and social levels being imprisoned by the Japanese on the island of Sumatra. The film examines and explores how, in times of adverse danger and suffering, people have the capacity to make it through by means of moral support and strength. This film highlights the atrocities of war. One example of this is one of the women was doused in petrol and then set alight.
To get through the horrible situation that all of them are in the women decide to start up a voice orchestra to keep everyone’s hopes up. This was the way the women retaliated against the Japanese officers that were holding them captive. In one of the scenes when the women are working the Japanese officers come up to them to see what they are doing as they start to move away one of the Japanese officers pull out the woman who conducts the vocal orchestra and does something that surprises everyone.
This officer pulls her into the jungle out of view from everyone else and instead of raping and killing her like everyone believed he would he sings to her showing her that he also has a love for music and singing he is breaking the communication barrier they can not talk to each other but they can communicate through their love of music. This scene shows us that people were affected by the war in many different ways.
For the women they were stuck under the brutal control of the Japanese officers and for the officers they were stuck in a camp being denied the things they loved although this is not as harsh as what they put the women through they were still affected by this war if only in a small way. The Japanese officer were cruel to these women but one woman in particular kept hope through there brutality she didn’t even hate them she said “ the worse they behave the sorrier I feel for them” showing the other women that these men could not brake her spirit no matter what they did.
This Film showed me that war is not a good thing not inn the slightest it showed me that there are no winners in war only pain , regret and suffering that is what war does. The third text that was studied this term was a novel called Divine Wind by Gary Disher. The Divine Wind is the story of Hartley Penrose, who falls in love with a Japanese girl I the multicultural Broome during world war two. This is a story of friendship, betrayal, loss of friendship and finding ones-self. Set in 1940 Broome (Australia), a society, which gives the impression of racial mix, but in reality, is very unstable. Hartley Penrose s the narrator of the novel, a character who by no means is perfect, struggling with himself and loving Mitsy, a Japanese girl growing up in Australia with her family. In a time when suspicion ruled, and Australia and Japan are at war, their love and friendship is put to the test as they encounter prejudice and hate. Broome society was affected quite a lot by the war. Broome at the start of the novel was quite accepting of all the cultures in their society but as the war, progressed people began to turn on each other. When Mitsy would walk out on the street people would throw things at her, call her names and even spit on her.
The war affects Mitsy and hart in different ways Hart and his farther are worried for Alice as she goes missing in Singapore and Mitsy and her mother are trying to deal with all the hatred thrown at them from the town they loved. As the novel goes on Mr Penrose, (hart’s Father) listens to the podcast on the radio about the war he grows suspicious of Sadako (Mitsy mother) and Mitsy. Mr Penrose was a sea captain he feels deeply for the loss of his wife during the war. He also is consumed with guilt over Zeke’s (misty’s father) death. In this novel, the war destroys him he becomes a broken man.
Another character in this novel that was affected by the War was Alice Penrose who was Hart’s younger sister. Alice was a likeable person she was generous and tolerant she generally cared for others. Alice’s ambition was to become an Army nurse eventually she does and is deployed to help in Singapore. Alice was in Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in the year of 1942 she was captured during this time. Not much information was given on what happened to Alice while she was under the rule of the Japanese but she came back a different person she ended up moving away from broome to get a fresh start.
Alice was changed in many ways by the war. This novel shows us that war can destroy a society that it can turn friends against each other. This novel shows that war can destroy a person both physically and mentally. War is a brutal horrible thing it brings out the worst of humanity. War destroys people, societies and everything that people stand for. War means death and destruction. War can happen for many different reasons but most the time those reasons are just stupid and make o sense they are just an excuse. There are no winners I war only losers as war only brings great suffering, hatred and regret.
