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Fireflies By Yoko Ota Analysis

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The dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August of 1945 had caused substantial damage and countless of lives lost. People had continued to suffer, whether if it was from radiation injuries or rebuilding their lives, even years after the tragic events. In Kenzaburo Oe’s anthology The Crazy Iris and Other Stories of the Atomic Aftermath, is comprised of short stories written by people who experienced and witnessed the events. They retell of their actual experience or re-create the emotions and events of the unforgettable day. In the story “Fireflies” written by Yoko Ota, she illuminates the lives of the people in Hiroshima seven years after the exploding of the atomic bombs. She tells of the struggles her family is facing, as well as many others, and looks how the horrific injuries caused by the radiation affected the lives of A-bomb survivors. Through the use of imagery, simile, and personification, Ota depicts people trying to rebuild their lives, the lasting memory of the event, and long lasting effects of the bomb. Therefore, Ota illustrates the struggle people went through in order to recover and rebuild their lives which was not easily or quickly done. In her story, she uses her family to depict the difficulty that many faced. For example, Ota describes the living conditions that her family, as well as many other survivors, lives in which is a “makeshift shaft” that lacked a ceiling and the fixtures did not fit properly, which was assembled on a

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