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“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never again escape from it," (PBS)"It was all propaganda. They wanted us to be able to kill them with no remorse, to make them less than people.."(Guterson 345) This quote uses dialogue to establish that there is a certain bias in the courtroom towards Japanese people due to propaganda.
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No two innocent-sounding words can crush a troop’s morale quite like a “Dear John letter, a cute letter sent by a troop’s lady back home that lets him know she’s gone. “I don’t love you, Ishmael. I can think of no more honest way to say it. From the very beginning, when we were little children, it seemed to me something was wrong.” (Guterson 493) This quote from Guterson uses dialogue to show the emotions Hatsune felt towards Ishmael through her own “dear john letter”.
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In the Battle of Tarawa, the U.S. began its Central Pacific Campaign against Japan by seizing the Japanese-held island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll (history.com) "On the other side was a boy with buck teeth who'd been shot squarely in the thighs and groin. The blood had soaked his khaki pants... every few seconds he groaned mechanically between forced, shallow breaths." (Guterson 250) Guterson uses imagery to exemplify the true horrors of war and the gruesome reality soldiers were faced with.
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The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II, and one of the bloodiest. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. (history.com)“Carl Heine, a man who had endured the sinking of the Canton and who, like Horace himself, had survived Okinawa only to die” (Guterson 76) Guterson uses irony to set the tone of the situation and feeling towards the death of Carl Heine.
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“The Pearl Harbor National Memorial preserve, interpret, and commemorate the history of World War II in the Pacific from the events leading to December 7, 1941 (NPS)
“ladies and gentlemen, to an argument based on prejudice... He is counting on you to act on passions best left to a war of ten years ago." (Guterson 424)
Guterson uses dialogue to display the emotion the people feel about the recent war and to show how many people are sensitive to the war.