Hiroshima Chapter 6 Summary

On August 6, 1945 a city called Hiroshima in Japan was destroyed by the very first atomic bomb, created by the United States. This book tells what happens on that day through six real survivors who lived to tell their story. Whenever the bomb detonated Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, Miss Toshiko Sasaki, Reverend Tanimoto, Medical Doctor Masakazu Fugii, Doctor Turufuni Sasaki, and Father Wilhelm were all going about their normal lives. Then in a split second their worlds were turned side down. These 6 brave souls struggled to survive, and continue to struggle even years after. “They still wonder why they lived when so many others died” (Ch. 1 Pg. 2). Let’s look some more at how these 6 characters handled their situation. From the very beginning the
These 6 characters were once living, even though the book itself is written from a 3rd person account. All of the information is taken from main sources of the people who experienced the very first A-Bomb. This book was written to bring awareness to the struggles that the Japanese went though not only right after the bomb hit but years after. In chapter 5 “Those who went through the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the Japanese tended to shy away from the term ‘survivors,” because in its focus on being alive it might suggest some slight to the sacred dead” (Ch. 5 Pg. 92). Most seem not to fully understand the extent of pain and suffering these people experienced and witnessed. “Since the Meiji Restoration in 1868; and the hell she had witnessed and the terrible aftermath unfolding around her reached so far beyond human understanding that it was impossible to think of them as the work of resendable human beings.” (Ch.5 Pg. 93) Considering that this book is non-fiction this book is a very reliable, whenever it comes to historical research by the author it seems like there might have been a little bit, because he is an American journalist talking about an event that did not occur while he was there. His information however was found from primary sources, maybe even the people themselves. According to www.theguardian.com “Hersey’s decision to use the testaments of Dr. Sasaki, Mrs. Namakura and the others, was both an inspired creative and also a tactically brilliant decision.” Therefore it may seem that he favors the Japanese view of the war, and the