Race, Language And War In Two Cultures By John W. Dower Analysis

The subject of the post-Pearl Harbor reaction of the United States has become a topic of study by various historians. One such is John W. Dower who explores the intriguing comparison between American and Japanese depictions of each other in his short essay titled Race, Language, and War in Two Cultures: World War II in Asia. It is Dower’s essay that takes this interesting case study to draw the conclusion that the Japanese and the Americans were not that different in their propagandistic depictions. In his essay, Dower appears to make multiple claims on the dynamic played out by the prime super powers of the Second World War, specifically the United States and Japan. Upon initially reading his essay, Dower mentions the hypocrisy many Americans initially believe regarding American views toward the most racial aspects of the war: the Nazi genocide of the Jews. Dower states on the first page of his essay that this viewpoint is in fact miniscule compared to how Americans grew to be quite adapt at demonizing the Japanese. This, however, is most likely not the primary thesis of the essay, rather an implied understanding Dower mentions throughout his essay. Another minor thesis interred in Dower’s essay is that racism in the Second World War cut across alliances, an example of this being how the British officials were also involved in this demonization. …show more content…
Through his use of primary sources and organizational process, Dower gives readers a taste of both sides of the coin by providing a dichotomy between the Japanese and American. It is because of this that the author offers his primary thesis, that the two major powers in the war, specifically in Asia, the Japanese and Americans, were rather quite similar in their demonization of one another throughout the