The main point in chapter one was to give us a history of the Japanese people, and to rationalize why the Japanese army went to such extremes in Nanking. She uses examples of training rituals used by the Japanese army like extreme teaching procedures and terrible school conditions in Japan. I don't think she was trying to make an excuse for the Japanese army but she wanted to site a possible reason for the abuse. She talks about Japanese history and gives us lots of background on the Japanese people before the horrifying occurrence in Nanking.
             The audience she has tried to communicate to is the intellectual western society who has possibly not heard or knows little about the Nanking massacre. The purpose of the essays is to educate and make aware of the atrocities here in this area of China. To tell, it seemed to me, is an important part of educating people to what the human species is capable of doing in extreme circumstances. Her tone seems to be one of sympathy to what the Japanese people had to go through before the war between China and Japan. This chapter has done a good job on giving the reader history and background of the country and the people in Japan.
             Iris Chang in this chapter details issues that were critical to the rape of Nanking. The Race to Nanking detailed the Japanese strategy to take Nanking from the Chinese. Killing the prisoners of war detailed the orders to kill all the prisoners because of food concerns and rebellion. The Murder of Civilians detailed why the civilians were killed because of a lack of protection from the soldiers of the Chinese army. The Japanese Journalists told us that the Japanese journalists were horrified about what was going on in Nanking. The Rape of Nanking told of the plight of the women in the Chinese capital. This section told of rapes and atrocities inflicted on the Chinese women, no matter how young or old they could not escape these atrocities. The arrival of Mat...