#teenage Japanese Navy sailor who came home after World War II to face defeat

[zuko-always-lies]

Azula, Iroh, Zuko, Imperial Japan, Teenage Soldiers, and Coming to Terms with Failed Ideologies.

Below is the summary of the journal of a teenage Japanese Navy sailor who came home after World War II to face defeat and irresponsibility. It has obvious implications for the postwar path of Azula and other child soldiers like her, and for the Fire Nation more generally.  It also has huge implications for how people might respond to Zuko and particularly Iroh’s behavior, might respond to their refusal to accept responsibility.

Dower, W. John. Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. New York City, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 2000.  Pages 339-345.

For those of you interested in Imperial Japan, or in the Fire Nation potential path after the war, I would highly recommend this book. It’s amazing in general.  Dower also wrote War Without Mercy: Race & Power In the Pacific War, which is another absolutely amazing book. 

Admittedly, Zuko’s regime is far more likely to follow the path of the Weimer Republic than it is to follow the path of postwar Japan, but that’s another story.

@lightdancer1 @ultranos​ you might find this particularly interesting, given the fics you are writing.