Dr. Sasaki's Hiroshima

Due to the staggering loss of buildings after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, countless were left homeless and starving. Sueko Hada, though reluctant to talk about her ordeal in Hiroshima, opened up during an interview stating, “I had nowhere to go. A soldier took pity on me, gave me some money and told me to take the train to his grandmother's house. But on the train a woman stole all my belongings. Then someone else offered to take me to my elementary school.”[ix] After the atomic bomb wiped out many of the buildings and houses, many who were lucky enough to survive the blast, struggled with the difficulty to live because they were lacking houses and the resources necessary to carry on. Many survivors such as Hada had nowhere to go; circumstances were especially dire if one was the sole survivor within the family, making one have to suffer the hardships in isolation, just as in Hada’s situation. Along with having a

During the bombing of Hiroshima, casualty rates among medical personnel were in the range between 80 to 93 percent. Injuries resulting from the bombing often went untreated, and the survivors did not receive health care for some time. The book Hiroshima discusses this issue in great length, specifically why they were not given the necessary aid. The government of Hiroshima played a major role in this.

Human life is precious in the sense that it is all about survival. There are qualities found in humans that make survival possible. In the book Hiroshima, by John Hersey, readers experience the core of humanity found in the six survivors during the days, months, and years following the atomic bomb. Through inspiration, perseverance, and a sense of community, the Japanese people demonstrated the strength of the human spirit.

     The book, Hiroshima, is the story of six individuals who experienced the true effects of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945. Miss Toshinki Sasaki, a clerk in the East Asia Tin Works factory, just sat down in the plant office and was turning to converse with the girl at the next desk when the bomb exploded. Dr. Masakazu Fujii, a physician, was relaxing on his porch, which overlooked the Kyo River, where he was reading the morning periodical when the shell detonated. Before the eruption, Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura was observing her neighbor destruct his house as part of a fire lane in preparation of an American attack. Previous to the attack, Father

The non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey is an engaging text with a powerful message in it. The book is a biographical text about lives of six people Miss Sasaki, Dr. Fujii, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki and Rev. Tanimoto in Hiroshima, Japan and how their lives completely changed at 8:15 on the 6th of August 1945 by the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The author, John Hersey, through his use of descriptive language the in book Hiroshima exposes the many horrors of a nuclear attack.

Mr. Tanimoto consciously repeated to himself “‘These are human beings’”(Hersey 1946), as he attempted to save paralyzed, dying men and women, in the book “Hiroshima” by John Hersey. This nonfiction book was published on August 31 1946, a year after the atomic bombing fell on Hiroshima, Japan. This publication was raw, uncensored, and truthful. John Hersey unapologetically revealed the gruesome damages done by the bombing, while also silencing those who believed that the atomic bomb was a justified attack. Hersey’s brilliant journalism and ability to write this story without bias, is why this book was selected. The author did not want those who died to be remembered as casualties, but as mothers, fathers and children. Hersey wrote this book about the the physical, and psychological impact this bomb had on both survivors and victims of the atomic bomb. There were many historical events that contributed to the cause and effect of the atomic attack; historical events such as industrialization, the trench wars, and militarism. This was not just a simple bomb, but a complex attack on humanity.

With this struggle, it can bring a community together and become closer with one another. Going through the good times is easy, but going through the tough times is what makes a community.

Although WW II ended over 50 years ago there is still much discussion as to the events which ended the War in the Pacific. The primary event which historians attribute to this end are the use of atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although the bombing of these cities did force the Japanese to surrender, many people today ask "Was the use of the atomic bomb necessary to end the war?" and more importantly "Why was the decision to use the bomb made?" Ronald Takaki examines these questions in his book Hiroshima.

The author also tries to add the sense of hopelessness when Dr.Sasaki, the only uninjured doctor began to rush to help the injured. “Dr. Sasaki worked without method,taking those who were nearest him first and he noticed that the corridor seemed to be getting more and more crowded...he decided that all he could hope to do was to stop people from bleeding to death” (Hersey 25). Under the circumstances, Dr.Sasaki begins to realize that there were not enough doctors and nurses because they too were affected by the noiseless flash. He realizes only the people who were injured not as severely can be saved while the seriously injured were left to die. This makes the readers want to feel sympathy towards the Hiroshima citizens.

While looking for a boat to carry the severely injured across the river, Mr Tanimoto “… Found a good-sized pleasure punt drawn up on the bank… five dead men, nearly naked, badly burned…” (Hersey, 37) near it, he “… lifted the men away from the boat… he experienced such horror at disturbing the dead…” (Hersey, 37). On August 6, 1945 the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to end the war between them. Hiroshima, by John Hersey is a book about six survivors of the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city. The six survivors tell their stories of where they were before the bomb was dropped, what they did after the bomb was dropped, and what their life was like years after the bomb. The book also

In John Hersey's Hiroshima, he based his book upon the one perspective that, the bombing of Hiroshima was an act of inhumanity. What Hersey failed to do was to give the perspective of the Americans. Hersey did not account for the Pearl Harbor bombing of 1941 or the death march in the Japanese Bataan Camps in 1942. Without giving both perspectives, Hersey does not give the reader a fair chance to form their own opinion; instead, the reader is swayed into Hersey's bias beliefs of the event.

He talks about how they came together and helped each other as if they were family by providing water, food and companionship at Asano Park. With so many people whom lost their love ones, people tend to need family to build on their strength, and without family you make new family. That is what the Hiroshima people did. Who is better to build a bond with each other than people that are going through the same turmoil?

Toshiko Saeki who, at the time of the bombing, was with her children at her

John Hersey, the author of the book “Hiroshima”, recounts the tragic events surrounding six survivors living in Hiroshima at a time the atomic bomb was being dropped. “The characters in his account are living individuals, not composite types. The story is their own story, told as far as possible in their own words” (Hersey VI). Part of Hersey’s goal was to emphasize how catastrophic events can foster a need for survival and bring communities together as they lean on each other for support. Although cultural behaviors differ around the globe, the basic needs in which to satisfy for survival are surprisingly similar. For this analysis, we will take a brief look at what is inherent in each of us, the need for survival.

The problem in the novel Hiroshima is that an atomic bomb detonates in the city and those who survive the blast from the bomb need medical aid. Since the bomb destroyed everything, supplies are scarce and many people end up dying from their wounds due to lack of medical aid. In the novel, hundreds of people waited at the Red Cross hospital for medical aid and a lot of them ended up dying because they did not receive medical aid in time (Hiroshima. New York City: A.A. Knopf, 1946. Print.). The solution to this problem is to transfer medical supplies, doctors and nurses from other parts of Japan and from other countries to Hiroshima so that the people in Hiroshima can get medical aid. If more people in Hiroshima received medical aid, then more