A  Bright and Blinding Sun

Guest post by Matthew Ilseman

Marcus Brotherton’s non-fiction book, A Bright and Blinding Sun, is the story of Joe Johnson, Jr. It follows him from early childhood to the end of his life, but it centers on his time in the Philippines before and during the Second World War.

I heard of this book from an Art of Manliness podcast with the author. It sat on my bookshelf for about a year before I got to it. I am not sure why I took so long to read it, but am glad I did.

Brotherton tells the story in the present tense. I suppose this is to create a sense of immediacy, but, although it did not bother me, I know of people who do not like reading that style. He also has chapters that are written in Johnson’s voice. This gives the writing a sensation of being told the story directly by the participant.

Johnson was born to a broken family in Memphis, Georgia. His father had left a long time ago to look for work and never came back. At an early age, Johnson became the man of the family. When his mother began a relationship with another man, he would leave to ride the rails to search for his father. He would find him raising horses in Texas and would later move with him to California. However, after a fight, Johnson would leave and join the Army despite being only fourteen at the time.

The Philippines at the time was an American protectorate with Army soldiers and Marines stationed there. Imperial Japan was, however, eyeing it for conquest during the build up to World War II.

At this time though there was a fragile peace. Johnson is thrown into rough company. Though a good soldier, he spends his off time in bars and brothels. It was in such a brothel, he meets a prostitute about his age name Perpetua. They fall in love.

(During the beginning of his tour of the Philippines, he comes to believe that manhood is tied to sexual experience. Fortunately, he quickly realizes it has more to do with personal responsibility and responsibility to those around you than getting laid. A lot of people nowadays don’t seem to understand that.)

Things get complicated when Perpetua gets pregnant. Johnson resolves to rescue her from the brothel. He sneaks her out and gets her to convent that takes in single mothers. This, however, separates them.

It’s not long afterward that the Japanese invade. The American forces are ill prepared. Johnson becomes a runner taking messages through the jungle. As the American defense crumbles around him, he sees friends die and is eventually captured by the Japanese.

While he does not take part in the infamous Bataan Death March, he is enslaved and abused. While the book notes that there were some among the Japanese who tried to treat prisoners decently most of the guards were brutal. He is beaten. He sees people beheaded with swords for petty reasons. He also has malaria and dysentery from before his capture.

Eventually, he figures out that he can get better treatment if he fakes insanity. He is sent to a hospital. Here he heals and rests, but as the Americans re-conquer the Philippines, he is moved to Japan till the end of the war.

So the book is an account of extreme suffering. Johnson bears up under it with great courage, but it leaves mental scars. 

This is what I find most moving about the Johnson’s story, though I wish the book dealt with it more. After the war, while in a mental hospital for PTSD, he is told that to get over what happened to him he has to forgive the Japanese. Most strikingly he does.

Reading history one gets the impression that people often get stuck in cycle of hatred and violence. Johnson managed to escape that. The book also shows that the people who benefit most from forgiveness are not the ones who are forgiven but those who choose to forgive.

There is more to Johnson’s story, including the tragic end of Perpetua, but that is what stands out to me. That despite all the suffering Johnson goes through he does not become trapped in hatred. I wish more people realized that.