hiroshima
On August, 6, 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bomb on the military city of Hiroshima and devastated the hearts of thousands. This was the first time an atomic bomb was detonated in war. Weighing in at 9,000 lb. and powered by uranium, most of the people don’t remember hearing the bomb detonate. All they can recollect is seeing a very bright flash, and at an instance, houses were blown apart. The hibakusha, or “explosion-affected persons” (Page 92) aren’t exactly lucky though, as they live life with mental and physical struggles. Some are in debt, and a large portion of them suffer from a sickness as a result of the radiation from the bomb. John Hersey’s Hiroshima tells the story of six hibakusha whose lives were destroyed because of the bomb. The government wouldn’t take responsibility, and the people were left to support themselves. Some of the characters had a very strong personality, in that they rebuilt their life after the bombing as if they were unaffected, such as Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki, and Reverend Tanimoto, while characters such as Dr. Fujii and Toshiko Sasaki appear to have a weaker personality. Characters such as Father Kleinsorge and Hatsuyo Nakamura have lead such tragic lives, you can’t help but feel sorry for them. Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge is definitely the strongest character in terms of personality and nobility. The thing that stands out most about him is that he is a German Jesuit priest living in Japan. The book describes him as having “the look of a boy growing too fast.” He is depicted as being frail and helpless.