The Plot structure is a chronological narrative that follows the characters’ lives, from the morning the bomb fell to 40 years later. Hersey jumps from one character to the next and then back again.
On August 6, 1945, the American army decimates the city of Hiroshima with a bomb of enormous power; out of a population of 250,000, the bomb kills nearly 100,000 people and injures 100,000 more. In his book, Hersey’s Hiroshima traces the lives of six survivors—2 doctors, 2 women, and 2 religious men from the moment the bomb drops until a few months later. In 1985, Hersey reexamines these six individuals’ lives in the forty years since the bomb.
Rising Action
The each character and the connection their lives have to the war, to the second the bomb
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Tanimoto became an enthusiastic peacenik and traveled around the U.S. raising money to rebuild his church. Father Kleinsorge became a Japanese citizen and changed his name to Makoto Takakura. Mrs. Nakamura struggled to make ends meet for a long time, but after getting a better job and gaining access to new government services for victims of the bomb, life started get considerably better and more comfy. Meanwhile, Dr. Fujii lives comfortably as a doctor for many years after the bomb until he is tragically disabled and by a freak gas leak. Dr. Fujii decided to pursue a life of pleasure and partying after his ordeal, opening a private clinic and spending his evenings entertaining. Finally, Dr. Sasaki worked at the Red Cross for years before starting his own private practice. After a health scare that led to the removal of one of his lungs, he committed himself to being a more compassionate and understanding doctor. Father Kleinsorge, Mrs. Nakamura, and Mr. Tanimoto, they all suffer from radiation sickness in varying degrees. But all attempt to move on with and rebuild their lives. Father Kleinsorge ends up being admitted to the hospital in Tokyo for several months. The house where Dr. Fujii is staying washes away during a period of heavy flooding. Yeah, that's two of Dr. Fujii's houses that wash away. He ends up buying a clinic in Kaitaichi and setting up a practice there. Mrs. Nakamura and her children are too poor to seek medical help, but resting seems to help them …show more content…
Mrs. Nakamura struggles with health problems and poverty for a long time, but eventually she finds a good job. She receives government health benefits targeting victims of the blast. She ends up retiring in relative comfort and enjoying life. Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, the only uninjured doctor on the staff of the Red Cross Hospital. In the months after the explosion he barely leaves his post, trying to stem the tide of death rising around him. Dr. Sasaki eventually leaves the Red Cross Hospital and starts a successful private clinic in Mukaihara. Father Kleinsorge thrives career-wise in the years that followed. His health continues to be spotty. He is thrilled when the opportunity to become a Japanese citizen presents itself, and he changes his name to Father Makoto Takakura. He acquires a cook/faithful companion, Satsue Yoshiki, who is like a mother/daughter to him. She is with him when he finally passes away after numerous health problems. Finally, Mr. Tanimoto ends up going to the States several times to raise money for the people affected by the bomb. He rebuild his
warnings of intruder planes coming in the area. It talked about how a lot of
As a matter of first importance, the characters in the story are incredibly affected by the Hiroshima bomb dropping. The bomb being
In John Hersey's book, Hiroshima, he provides a detailed account of six people and how the bombing of Hiroshima affected their lives. John Heresy felt it was important to focus his story on six individuals to create a remembrance that war affects more than just nations and countries, but actual human beings. Moreover, the book details the effect the bomb had on the city of Hiroshima. “Houses all around were burning, and the wind was now blowing hard.” (Hersey, 27).
The author is opposed to dropping the bomb due to the fact that his choice of language shows the horrific outcomes from the bomb. "Tempers full around her as she landed, and the shower of tiles per motor everything became dark, for she was buried...She heard a child cry mother help me and saw her youngest the five-year-old berry up to her breast and unable to move". This statement explains the horrific things that the bomb did and just the thought of it is appalling. Other than all the screaming one would have to endure from the people in the vicinity, the thought of being stuck under something and not being able to escape is horrid in itself. "He called to passers by running away in the streets to help him lift it, but no one no one paid attention
When looking at the aftermath of the atomic bomb in both Nagasaki and Hiroshima the devastation it caused is evident. The majority of the population in Japan could have never imagined such a catastrophic event. On August 6, 1945 and August 9, 1945 massive amounts of lives were changed forever when an atomic bomb fell from the sky and created an explosion as bright as the sun. These two bombs were the first and only accounts of nuclear warfare. (“Atomic Bomb is…”) The impact that the two bombs left on the cities of Japan was tremendous. The bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima devastated the country through structural damage, long term medical effects, expenses, and the massive loss of life.
Hiroshima, by Hershey, is a short story that has a very powerful theme about war. This text is about the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan by America. This bombing was the first time an atomic bomb was used and it proved to be very detrimental for the Japanese. Hershey says, “A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb, and these [four] were among the survivors.” This
Miles, Rufus E. Jr. “Hiroshima: The Strange Myth of Half a Million American Lives Saved.” International Security (1985): 121-140.
A survivor of this atomic bomb was Michio Hakariya. Michio was at his house when the bomb was dropped, which was 3.8 km away from the hypocenter. He was only eight years old when the event took place. After the bombing he was able to make it to a shelter so not to be exposed to the radiation. Later, after the war had ended Michio decided to become a teacher in a high school for the next thirty six years. Later on he got involved with the Peace Boat Hibakusha Project, this was in the fall of 2009. This is where his story began.
... of a pension and a government allowance. Sadly, Father Kleinsorge and Dr. Fujii are taken ill and the sickness gets the better of them. Dr. Sasaki and Mr. Tanimotot dedicate thier lives to helping people.M. Tanimoto is especially noted on because, though he helps all people who suffered through the bombing, he deals mostly with the Hiroshima Madiens. This was a group of women whose faces and bodies are so disfigured form the burns that they require plastic surgery. He somewhat becomes a semi-famous activist in America and rather unsucessfully spreads a message of peace.
Hiroshima’s bombing alarms started going off causing thousands of panicked people into the open street(Shmoop Editorial Team. "Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Aug 6, 1945 - Aug 9, 1945) in World War II: Home Front." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 09 Apr. 2014). Hiroshima’s population consisted of 300,000 people(Shmoop Editorial Tea...
Japan: The Only Victim of The Atomic Bomb Japan will never forget the day of August 6 and 9 in 1945; we became the only victim of the atomic bombs in the world. When the atomic bombs were dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was World War II. The decision to drop the atomic bombs was affected by different backgrounds such as the Manhattan Project, and the Pacific War. At Hiroshima City, the population of Hiroshima was 350,000 when the atomic bomb dropped. Also, the population of Nagasaki was around 250,000 ("Overview.").
The devastation brought about by the atomic bomb has caused fear among all the people that have realized the potential destructive power of its invention. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945 completely obliterated both cities (Lanouette 30). “Little Boy,” the bomb dropped on Hiroshima killed 70,000 people with an additional 66,000 injured (30-39). “Fat Man,” the bomb dropped on Nagasaki also carried its “share of America’s duty” by killing 40,000 people and injuring another 25,000 (30-39). The bombs also killed an estimated 230,000 more people from the after effects of the two explosions (30). The two bombings had opened the world’s eyes to the destructive power that could be unleashed by man.
In “Hiroshima,” Berger expounds upon the events of the bombing of Hiroshima through an inspection of the book, Unforgettable Fire. He describes how America has erased the emotions and meaning behind the bombing though a “...systematic, slow and thorough process of suppression and elimination” (17). The greatest evil (be specific) lies not in the US bombing Hiroshima but in our ability to indifferently look beyond the suffering and destruction that these bombs caused, focusing only on statistics and relative calculations. Berger incorporates personal accounts from bomb survivors and delves into Medieval concepts of evil to express how “...evil has been reduced to a little adjective to support an opinion or hypothesis (abortions, terrorism, ayatollahs)” (19). Begin with more of a reflection instead of an overview of Berger’s essay.
We are next introduced to the only non-native Japanese survivor. Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, a German priest residing in Hiroshima. He was thought of as a foreign spy and having something to do with the attack. Eventually, he does become a Japanese citizens to show loyalty. As we meet him for the first time he is described as weak and sick from the wartime diets. Following the attack his life will not be affected. He will not be a very major influence on the
“This story takes place in Tokyo after World War II” and the drop of the atom bomb. After Hiroshima, countless lives were disrupted the shock of this event changed many peoples lives forever. The author Yukio Mishima uniquely describes this evolution from the female perspective. Probably an ability acquired from his youth “That was dominated by his grandmother.” In the story the lead characters Toshiko’s comfortable life is interrupted when her nanny graphically gives birth to a son in the middle of her child’s nursery. This one horrific experience causes the character’s personality to complete alter from self-centered individual to someone so engrossed with this child’s life that she becomes selfless.