Did the storyline change your perspective of an event, place or time period? How?

[Finn]

The storyline of Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes completely changed my perspective of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. "There Sadako saw Kenji for the first time. He was nine and small for his age. Sadako stared at his thin face and shining dark eyes... 'i'll die soon. I have Leukemia from the bomb.'"(Coerr, 42-43) You cannot justify harming the health of millions of innocent people for generations with a war. The character Kenji, who wasn't even alive at the time of the bombing contracted the disease from his mother while she was pregnant. He ended up without his parents as they both passed and all he could think about day to day in the hospital was how he too was going to die. No child should have to think about death at such an early age, let alone by a disease caused by a bomb they weren't even alive to see.

[Siena]

When I think about the famous bombing in Japan during World War II the first thing that comes to my mind is the massive death toll. In total there were approximately 275,000 killed or wounded during the bombings (Children Of the Atomic Bomb, 2007). However what is not often thought of is the fates of the wounded. Did they ever recover? Did they take a turn for the worse? Did radiation poisoning affect them later in life (Coerr 13)? Although in a history class we may learn that there were 275,000 people killed, the effect the bombing had on other generations is untold.

Reference article: http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/cab/20070823....

[Siena]

Finn wrote: "The storyline of Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes completely changed my perspective of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. "There Sadako saw Kenji for the first time. He was nine and small for ..."

I completely agree. When I got this point I was immediately reminded of the plot of a Dan Brown book Digital Fortress. In it the effects of radiation poisonings impacted the life of the mother of the one of the antagonists. This resulted in significant genetic mutations for that antagonist even though they had not been alive during the bombings. In fact, that antagonist's mother had even died due to the effects of the radiation poisoning (Brown 17). On paper it already seems like the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima effected society on a grand scale but the scale was even bigger then it first appeared. Death on a multi-generational scale on top of the generations of people who were wounded and hurt during the initial bombings.

[Kiera]

Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes offered a new perspective on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "...he prayed that his family would be safe from the atom bomb disease called leukemia. Many still died from the disease, even though the atom bomb had been dropped nine years before."(Coerr) Medical research at this time was not as advanced as it was today, and radiation from the bombings affected thousands of people in Japan, even today. This really offers insight into the fear people lived with during this time period and why Sadako's positivity and kindness was so impactful to those around her.

[Kiera]

Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes offered a new perspective on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "...he prayed that his family would be safe from the atom bomb disease called leukemia. Many still died from the disease, even though the atom bomb had been dropped nine years before."(Coerr) Medical research at this time was not as advanced as it was today, and radiation from the bombings affected thousands of people in Japan, even today. This really offers insight into the fear people lived with during this time period and why Sadako's positivity and kindness was so impactful to those around her.

[Finn]

Kiera wrote: "Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes offered a new perspective on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "...he prayed that his family would be safe from the atom bomb disease called leu..." I'd like to add on to you there, as a heavy amount of people were still being treated for the disease 10 years after the bombs. "In the 1950s, nearly all children with leukemia died. The survival rate for children today is about 75 percent and childhood leukemia is one of the most successfully treated cancers" (carleton.edu). This piece of information is vital because the book's prologue states that she developed Leukemia around the time of 1954 into 1955 when she had passed away. https://serc.carleton.edu/woburn/over....

[Dorothy]

Finn wrote: "Kiera wrote: "Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes offered a new perspective on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "...he prayed that his family would be safe from the atom bomb dise..."

For me, at least, the information that you included adds to the emotional impact that a storyline like this can give a person, Finn. As Kiera said, medical technology was not nearly as advanced as it is today, and one of the statistics of childhood leukemia at the time was that "...nearly all children with leukemia died" (carleton.edu). Sadly, this was the case with Sadako. Of course today, medical technology and innovations have helped us combat diseases like cancer, leukemia, and HIV/AIDS. But as previously said, this was not the case. I think the fact that this was a young girl that had such a tragic death at a young age is nothing short of upsetting, especially when you consider the fact that Sadako was a cheerful, free-spirited girl who wanted to do great things, like join the track team in middle school (Coerr 22). It makes you question why such a fate would happen to such a young girl, but when you recall that this was mainly because of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it makes you nearly resent the fact that such drastic measures had to be taken in order to force Japan into surrender.

[Siena]

Dorothy wrote: "Finn wrote: "Kiera wrote: "Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes offered a new perspective on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "...he prayed that his family would be safe from the a..."

I wanted to add that it is even worse than one would think. Most of you and myself were probably under the assumption that either; A-The bombings happened so long ago it should not effect any modern day people. B-Modern technology should solve most diseases and effects of radiation. I did a little bit of research and found that there are a significant number of Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombing survivors that have spent their lives suffering from unspeakable diseases and there is very little that could be done, even with modern technology (Normile, 2020). Although most of those suffering from radiation poisonings have died there are approximately 36,000 alive and participating in a program to test the long term effects of radiation. It is hard to conceptualize even 100 people, 36,000 is a number that the brain has a hard time understanding as representing individual people. Modern technology leads to the modern day, the next generation. The stigma they faced against the rest of Japanese society for facing possible birth defects. Imagine this, you grew up in Hiroshima, you survived a terrifying bomb that killed over 90,000-120,000 people. You make it out somehow with relatively few injuries, you are lucky. However many other people in society (like Sadako's mother who was pregnant with her while the bombings occurred) are having children with birth defects. The stigma increases, time passes, studies are done, there are very few obviously present genetic birth defects caused by the bombings. The stigma does not die however. You (still in this imaginary scenario) try to find someone to settle down with but it is not happening because people want kids and are scared of birth defects. That is really terrifying, discrimination is bad, and wait till the studies come out.

Reference article: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/...

[Dorothy]

Siena wrote: "Dorothy wrote: "Finn wrote: "Kiera wrote: "Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes offered a new perspective on the impact of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. "...he prayed that his family would be..."

That's a really good point, and something that I didn't even think of, admittedly. With that kind of aftermath to, in my opinion, one of the most tragic (yet most innovative) moments in world history, it makes you start to think about what would happen if Sadako had recovered from leukemia. Would she develop more health issues because of her exposure to radiation? Remember, she was "only a baby" when the bombings occurred (Coerr 18). So would she develop more health complications in her future? In addition, would she become a part of the stigma associated with bomb survivors, as Siena pointed out? Obviously, Eleanor Coerr could not rewrite her novel to fit this alternative timeline, but if she wrote a novel inspired by Sadako's story, then would she incorporate this stigma into the plot? Would that protagonist have a disease like leukemia or cancer, but be able to survive?

[Finn]

I must also point out, Japan had officially built Sadako a monument. The Children's Peace Monument, which features Sadako on the top holding an origami crane has a huge significance to her story. Inscribed on the monument is this, "これはぼくらの叫びです　これは私たちの祈りです　世界に平和をきずくための" which can be translated to "This is our cry, this is our prayer: for building peace in the world". Underneath the monument is a golden bell, shaped like the crane her best friend Chizuko had given her. According to the Global Ministries website, "Today, people all around the world have the opportunity to donate cranes that they have folded in honor of Sadako and the others. The paper crane is a symbol of peace, which was her last dying wish" (Global Ministries).

https://www.globalministries.org/reso...

[Siena]

When you read a story like Sadako and the 1000 Paper Cranes it humanizes the bombings. Families are trying to move on, real families as this book is based on a real story, and real events that took place. Families grieved for the loss of their loved ones such as Sadako's grandmother (Coerr 11). It was not instantaneous, the bombs did not strike and there was not instant recovery. On paper, there is an official 7 year Reconstruction Era in the history books ("Occupation and Reconstruction of Japan, 1945–52"). But that is only a physical reconstruction of a nation. A physical reconstruction that allowed Japan to move on in a meaningful way, embracing new industry and new media. The families and lives that were affected will never get back their dead loved ones. They could not embrace the dead but they could look at old photos and remember. The only thing that is left is to move on. However it is impossible to move on as evidenced by Sadako herself. She has leukemia and died an early death because of radiation poisoning (Coerr 63). As people try to move on the past holds firm in an ugly grip.

Reference Article: https://history.state.gov/milestones/...