World War I Am Become Death, The Destroyer Of Worlds

â€Å"I am become death, the destroyer of Worlds.† This is what Robert Oppenheimer said when an atomic bomb was first tested at Los Alamos. On August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, another was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. These bombs killed over 100,000 instantly and approximately another 100,000 died from the fallout affect of the bombs. Nobody will ever forget this tragic day, when America destroyed the lives of thousands but also stopped the war with Japan. Since this moment, there has always been controversy about this drastic action. Was the dropping of the Atomic Bombs the only solution to end the war or was there another, less drastic action that America could have†¦show more content†¦Over in Europe, Nazi Germany had surrendered to the victorious Allied troops. The War was over! Or at least for Europe. Japan had still not given up her own battle with the United States. Battle after battle was still being fought for control of the Pacific. American and Japanese troops were dying at a rapid pace and no ground was being gained on any side. Many people speculate over Japans stubbornness to surrender when obviously faced with a losing cause. This stubbornness can be attributed to the Japanese Culture. In their culture, the Japanese had a strong Honor-Shame society. This meant that honor was virtually everything to the Japanese people. If they had no honor, they were not worthy of living and were required to commit Seppuku [suicide]. According to the Japanese one of the most shameful acts was surrender. If a man surrendered he lost all honor in his society. This meant that the Japanese would rather be destroyed than surrender to America and bring shame upon not only themselves but future generations to come. To the Americans this was a foreign concept, who in their right minds would die rather than surrender? With the Japanese refusing to surrender, President Tr uman was placed in a tricky position. He had the option to use the bombs to show such a display of force that the Japanese had to surrender or he could wait this war out hoping the