John Hersey Hiroshima Bombing

On August 6th, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on a populous city in Japan. It claimed hundreds of thousands of lives while affecting many more. John Hersey, the author of Hiroshima, illustrates the horrific scenes from the world's first nuclear bomb through the eyes of surviving victims. The survivors had to struggle to survive during this dreary and mysterious time. The city went from calm and peaceful to chaos in a matter of seconds thanks to this deadly weapon. The famous bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima named “Little Boy” had major long lasting consequences on the citizens of the city.

The author, John Hersey, shows us events before and after the bomb through the eyes of six, real-life survivors. They are, Miss Toshinki Sasaki,

The author, John Hersey, described in complete detail what the victims of the bombing had to deal with. First, he described the houses and buildings being blown apart throughout the entire city. Then, the sun was blocked out by a cloud of dust and ash that covered the city. The only light provided was from the merciless fires and explosions(Hersey 6). Days later, dead bodies of refugees in Asano littered the ground.(Hersey 51). Months after the bombing, survivors suffered from the symptoms of radiation disease. They included exhaustion, hair loss, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, and petechiae(Hersey 68). All the descriptions of these real life events show how dreary it was after the

Dr. Sasaki described the Red Cross Hospital as, “chaotic” right after the bomb went off(Hersey 25). Doctors laid dead or injured on the floor except for a couple of lucky people. Soon people began to flood the rooms, lobbies, and hallways of the hospital with abundant patients, but a shortage of staff. Even though the hospital was overflowing with people, the ground was littered with burnt bodies that laid everywhere. The smell of burning flesh was “repugnant”(Hersey 51). These descriptive words help us visualize what the aftermath of the bomb was like.

Some very mystifying events happened around Hiroshima during this time. First, when the bomb dropped Mr. Tanimoto described it as, “a sheet of sun”(Hersey 5). Then, Miss Sasaki was “terrified and amazed. . . by the blankets of fresh, vivid, lush, optimistic green” that covered everything(Hersey 69). Flowers and plants were growing with “extraordinary regeneration” and they were growing from under ashes and cracks in the road(Hersey 70). Nobody had ever seen a bomb with such unusual characteristics. It was so strange and inhuman that people became