Manga Study Guide: Barefoot Gen/Plot summary

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The Setting (Year 1945, Hiroshima)

 * 1) Barefoot Gen starts with an air strike by American bombers.
 * 2) The father refuses to be trained because he knows it is meaningless; he thinks Japanese cannot win with bamboo sticks while Americans are using machine guns and other firearms.
 * 3) The father is arrested due to his refusal of training and is beaten.
 * 4) Gen’s family gets in trouble because people are hostile to anti-war ideas.
 * 5) Gen bites off fingers of the chairman and his son.
 * 6) Gen’s sister is stripped because she is accused of stealing money.
 * 7) Mr.Pak shares his valuable bowl of rice.
 * 8) Gen’s father scolds his children several times (Respect for Koreans and so on)
 * 9) Gen’s elder brother goes to war in order to take honor back to his family.
 * 10) Gen’s elder brother goes to training camp - one of his teammates commit suicide after continuous excessive trainings. He realizes the war is really wrong.
 * 11) Gen and Shinji disguises as beggars to help their family financially
 * 12) Gen breaks glasses in order to support the owner of glass-house, and receives a toy battleship as a gift. Gen gives the battleship to his younger brother.
 * 13) Enola Gay drops an atomic bomb called Little Boy in 8:15, 6th August, 1945.
 * 14) Gen witnesses the horror and devastation caused by the atomic bomb.
 * 15) Despite all the difficulties that occurred, Gen saves the chairman and his son
 * 16) Gen and his mother survive, but the rest of the family burns alive because they could not escape from a collapsed building.
 * 17) After witnessing the excruciating death of the family members, the mother loses her sanity.
 * 18) With the help of Mr. Pak, Gen is able to safely evacuate him and his mother from the burning buildings
 * 19) Instantly after the bombing, Gen’s mother gives birth
 * 20) Gen helps bring up his sister
 * 21) The volume ends with an intense scene: the newborn witnesses the grievous scene of the bombing, vowed not to tolerate any further tragic affairs.