Hiroshima Essay

John Hersey's journalist narrative, Hiroshima focuses on the detonation of the atomic bomb, Little Boy, that dropped on the city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Although over one hundred thousand people died in the dropping of the bomb, there were also several survivors. John Hersey travelled to Hiroshima to listen to the experiences of six survivors. Hersey uses his book to tell the story of six of these survivors (spanning from the morning the bomb fell to forty years later) through a compilation of interviews. Hiroshima demonstrates the vast damage and suffering inflicted on the Japanese that resulted from US deployment of the atomic bomb. And although depressing, humbling, and terrifying, this book was very good, interesting, and

     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.

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.

Japan during the 1940’s was a nation that prided itself on the concept of never surrendering. It was something that they took fierce and obsessive pride in. Their culture dictated that they are never to give up, even if they fought until every single man,woman, and child living in Japan was slaughtered, they would never surrender. This doctrine was one of the key deciding factors that influenced Truman in making the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Several weeks before the Atomic bomb was dropped, The Untied States of Military issued a warning to the Japanese government. “It warned the Japanese to surrender immediately or face ‘prompt and utter destruction.” (Yes! Harry Truman’s Simple Decision) Unfortunately, a mere two weeks before the first atomic bomb dropped, the Japanese prime minister publically dismissed the warning and refused to surrender. Even after the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese government refused to stand down. Even though they had suffered over 225,000 civilian casualties in the attack, the Japanese military refused to surrender. It took until the second bombing of Nagasaki to finally force the Japanese to surrender on American

While this is true, it becomes apparent that every option had its flaws and none seemed as immediate of a solution as dropping single highly destructive bombs on what Stimson (the secretary of war) named as “cities in Japan devoted exclusively to production” (p.287). The first alternative mentioned in the RTAP (page 273) was “continue and intensify the bombing and naval blockade of Japan”. The second option mentioned on the same page was to “wait for the Soviet Union to enter the war with Japan by attacking Manchuria” and the third option mentioned was to “allow the Japanese to retain their emperor with his power reduced to the status of a constitutional monarch”. Each option was unique in its requirements of effect, strategic planning, and man power. However, they all shared the distinct quality of baring absolutely no guarantee of Japanese surrender.

attack at pearl harbor everything went downhill, it all came back up. Both nations trust

In stark contrast to Admiral William Leahy’s opinion that “the Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender,” there was never an indication that the Japanese were going to surrender, let alone accept unconditional surrender (doc 2). As displayed during many battles with Japan, for instance Iwo Jima, the Japanese would sooner kill themselves than surrender. Japanese

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

Psychological warfare, although suggested by Stimson as an effective means to induce Japanese surrender, did not have a momentous impact: leaders found it "hard to differentiate" between firebombing and nuclear bombs, claiming Japan would "never surrender as a result of air raids". (Hasegawa, T. 2005) On the other hand, the Soviet declaration of war left Japan without a prospect of attaining favourable terms: it had lost a mediator and gained an enemy threatening to revive a two-front war Japan could impossibly uphold. Emperor Hirohito urged the government to surrender as a result.

Japan surrendered 5 days later signaling the end of the war. It also changed how the military operated, affected Japan’s land and people and increased our knowledge on science and technology.

This document, a written version of the Japanese Emperor’s radio address to announce his intention to surrender to the Allies in 1945, is valuable source when analyzing the necessity of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki because it gives a more in-depth look at the Japanese perspective. Hearing Showa’s side of the war shows how the Japanese felt about the bombs and how necessary they were in the war as far as bringing about Japanese surrender.

     In the first phase of World War II in Europe, Germany sought to avoid a long war. Germany's strategy was to defeat its opponents in a series of short campaigns. Germany quickly overran much of Europe and was victorious for more than two years by relying on a new military tactic called the "Blitzkrieg" (lightning war). Blitzkrieg tactics required the concentration of offensive weapons (such as tanks, planes, and artillery) along a narrow front. These forces would drive a breach in enemy defenses, permitting armored tank divisions to penetrate rapidly and roam freely behind enemy lines, causing shock and

The nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki gave Japanese pioneers the reason they expected to make the completely unbelievable move of surrendering. To be sure, the nuclear bombings figured unmistakably in Emperor Hirohito 's remarkable discourse to the country declaring Japan 's surrender. "The adversary has started