Hiroshima Cause and Effect Essay
Alexa Gombert
English-Kiernan
10/28/12
Period 1
On August 6, 1945, America was responsible for the death of over 100,000 innocent souls. On this day, an American aircraft dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. This was the first atomic bomb ever used in the history of warfare. In the non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey, first hand six survivors of this horrific event describe accounts of the bombing and its effects in vivid detail. The atomic bomb affected civilians of Hiroshima and the city’s environment in that people began acting irrationally, suffered from injuries and deaths, and it led to erratic environmental occurrences. The atomic bomb affected civilians of Hiroshima in that they began acting irrationally in the hours after the explosion. This irrational behavior can be seen through the actions of Mr. Fukai and Mrs. Kamai. Mr. Fukai was a secretary of the diocese who lived in a mission house with many priests and religious men. When the bomb went off, all of the survivors from the mission house abandoned the pile of rubble that was once their home, and set out for their designated safe area. Father Kleinsorge went to get Mr. Fukai, but irrationally Mr. Fukai refused to leave and said, “Leave me here to die” (44). Mr. Fukai foolishly said he wanted to die in the burning city. He wasn’t in the right state of mind and therefore was unable to a reasonable decision. Mrs. Kamai, who was found cradling her dead baby, exhibits another example of irrational behavior as a result of the atomic bomb. Hersey relays Mr. Tanimoto’s odd account when he wrote, “She was crouching on the ground with the body of her infant daughter in her arms. The baby had evidently been dead all day” (60). Holding the dead corpse for four days, Mr. Tanimoto ‘tried to cremate the baby, but Mrs. Kamai only held it tighter’ (81). During this time Mrs. Kamai was unstable and unable to make rational decisions because she was in shock as a result of the bombing
English-Kiernan
10/28/12
Period 1
On August 6, 1945, America was responsible for the death of over 100,000 innocent souls. On this day, an American aircraft dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima, Japan. This was the first atomic bomb ever used in the history of warfare. In the non-fiction book Hiroshima by John Hersey, first hand six survivors of this horrific event describe accounts of the bombing and its effects in vivid detail. The atomic bomb affected civilians of Hiroshima and the city’s environment in that people began acting irrationally, suffered from injuries and deaths, and it led to erratic environmental occurrences. The atomic bomb affected civilians of Hiroshima in that they began acting irrationally in the hours after the explosion. This irrational behavior can be seen through the actions of Mr. Fukai and Mrs. Kamai. Mr. Fukai was a secretary of the diocese who lived in a mission house with many priests and religious men. When the bomb went off, all of the survivors from the mission house abandoned the pile of rubble that was once their home, and set out for their designated safe area. Father Kleinsorge went to get Mr. Fukai, but irrationally Mr. Fukai refused to leave and said, “Leave me here to die” (44). Mr. Fukai foolishly said he wanted to die in the burning city. He wasn’t in the right state of mind and therefore was unable to a reasonable decision. Mrs. Kamai, who was found cradling her dead baby, exhibits another example of irrational behavior as a result of the atomic bomb. Hersey relays Mr. Tanimoto’s odd account when he wrote, “She was crouching on the ground with the body of her infant daughter in her arms. The baby had evidently been dead all day” (60). Holding the dead corpse for four days, Mr. Tanimoto ‘tried to cremate the baby, but Mrs. Kamai only held it tighter’ (81). During this time Mrs. Kamai was unstable and unable to make rational decisions because she was in shock as a result of the bombing