Hiroshima, By John Hersey

As World War II was coming to an end during 1945, the creation of one of the most destructive weapons known to humanity occurred within the United States. This weapon, known as “the atomic bomb,” was used on the two Japanese cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in a death toll unprecedented by any military weapon used before and an immediate, unconditional surrender. Some historians believe President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb in order to intimidate the Soviet Union whereas others believe it was a strictly military measure designed to force Japan’s unconditional surrender. In the Report of a Scientific Panel of nuclear physicists, some scientific colleagues believed the atomic bomb was a “purely technical

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.

The atomic bombs were dropped with purpose of solving diplomatic reasons and to inevitably make Japan surrender. The diplomatic goals the US had at the time was to prevent Russia from joining the war against Japan, but the US wanted to win the war before the USSR joined in order to prevent Stalin from claiming land in Japan and spreading communist influence throughout Asia. So in order to impede the potential spread of Russian influence and communism in post­war Japan, the US had to end the war as soon as possible or else the potential spread of Stalin and the Soviet Union’s influence might bring forth more devastating and graver consequences for the future of the US. The atomic bomb was a diplomatic and intimidating way of keeping the Soviet

As president Harry S. Truman states in his speech, “With this bomb we have now added a new and revolutionary increase in destruction to supplement the growing power of our armed forces… We are now prepared to obliterate more rapidly and completely every productive enterprise the Japanese have above ground in any city” (Document D). This newly attained bomb would not only add to America’s destructive firepower, it would also have the power to end the war. It would ultimately destroy Japan and its ability to continue fighting the war against the Allied

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.

The official reason given for dropping the bomb was to bring a quick end to tht war and save American lives. However, Takaki presents many different explanations as to why the decision to use the bomb was made.

During the time period when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office, it was during WWII. Japan attacked the U.S. on Dec. 7, 1941 and was known as Pearl Harbor. When that happened, Roosevelt did not hesitate to ask Congress to officially declare war on Japan. During the war, there was a proposal of an atomic bomb landing over Hiroshima and Nagasaki to finalize the war. To this day there is still controversy that if that atomic bomb was actually necessary to end the war, because of the number of innocent casualties suffered from the Japanese. The aim of this investigation is to answer the question: To what extent was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki necessary to end the war with Japan? To answer this question, the

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

Truman and other U.S. officials, after the testing of the first atomic bomb, wanted to use the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as displays for U.S. nuclear power in order to intimidate the Soviet Union. The dropping of the bombs was backed by another secret agenda, which was to keep the Soviet Union out of Japan so the U.S. could be in charge of the reconstruction and occupation period. The U.S. did not want the Soviet Union to instill its communistic ideology into the Japanese government, so they decided to end the war before the Soviet Union could get involved (Atomic Diplomacy). The Soviet Union was indeed intimidated by the thought of their adversary having nuclear capabilities and continued its

Hiroshima is an outstanding recreation of the complete annihilation and devastation of during the aftermath and the year following the United States’ dropping of the atomic bomb. As the war in the east carried on, many thought this desolated war might last a lifetime, all the while hoping for an end and praying it not mean their own end. To end the war, Americans had to pick a target that would leave the Japanese government with nowhere to retreat, allowing for a crippling effect that would essentially cause their collapse and surrender. In his writings, John Hersey proclaims that Hiroshima was a “… inviting target - mainly because it had been one of the most important military command and communications centres in Japan …” (HERSEY, P. 107). In the minds of American strategists, this must have seemed a flawless method to force the Japanese military into a corner, not allowing withdrawal without laying down of arms. There was surely no doubt that dropping this bomb of god-like destructive power would, at a minimum, tear into the souls of Japanese, causing catastrophic devastation.

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.

         But why Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Because Truman and his advisers believed that this will create the most shocking impression. The target cities were carefully chosen, so n order to show how much damage the atomic

Firstly, the US wanted to get revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack and all the Americans the Japanese killed. During Pearl Harbor, the Americans “suffered the loss of more than 418,000 lives, both military and civilian” which left the US stunned and not forgiving. Though military leaders were not surprised because of the tension with Japan, “2,403 American soldiers died.” Later, dropping the bomb was a way of ending the war, but was also a way of getting back at Japan for killing their people. Secondly, to add, not only was it revenge, but it was a way to payback Americans dead. The bomb “became a way to avenge America's fallen soldiers” and get back at Japan not only for their attack, but for killing American’s men. Finally, the US needed to keep the USSR from entering the war. It was said that “the US did use the atom bomb to keep the USSR in line” because they didn’t want a nuclear war. After the US dropped their first bomb, the USSR started creating an atomic weapon. Threatening them with the atomic bomb, kept them out and ended the war swiftly with less destruction. To conclude, the US used the bomb only as a revenge mechanism, to avenge the dead soldiers and to prevent the USSR from entering and creating an even bigger

There were many causes for the United States dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One of these causes was because we wanted to increase the chances of Japan surrendering so that our

In his book Hiroshima, written and published in 1946, Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer and journalist John Hersey argues that people should pay more close attention to the horrors of nuclear weapons that are still a major part of life today, as citizens – especially those in Hiroshima – still continue to suffer from the aftereffects of the atomic bomb set in motion in 1945. Although he never clearly states this argument, it is seen throughout his narrative that nuclear escalation continues to threaten the entire world which is the sole reason as to why they should be put under careful observation. Before writing Hiroshima, Hersey was an appointed infield war correspondent who devoted his time in writing for Life magazine and The New Yorker. He became one of the first Western journalists to come across the disaster of Hiroshima immediately after the bombing had occurred. In fact, he was commissioned by William Shawn, editor of The New Yorker, to write a series of articles about the effects of a nuclear explosion by using first-class witness accounts on the subject. In regards to those who do not know about the cause of the bombing of Hiroshima, it surfaced as a result of Japanese alignment with Germany and Italy, The United States’ enemies at the start of WW2. When Japan signed the Tripartite Pact in September of 1940, the United States took on the decision of placing an embargo on Japanese oil, knowing it would hurt their economy. Subsequently, Japan devised a surprise