HiroshimaBy John Hersey

Author BiographyJohn Hersey 1914-1993Born and raised till age 10 in

ChinaMother was a missionary, Dad

worked for YMCA in ChinaGraduated from Yale in 1936Worked for Time and LIFE

magazinesWorked as a WWII journalist/

correspondent

Writing AchievementsWrote non-fiction and fiction ranging from

surviving the atrocities of WWII to futuristic novels and historical fiction

Most popular and widely acclaimed books were based on his wartime correspondence, specifically Hiroshima

A Bell for Adano about the U.S. army in Italy won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction 1945

The Wall about the Warsaw Ghetto resistance

Given many honorary degrees for his work

Historical Context of NovelAugust 6, 1945 the first Atomic Bomb is

dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in an effort to end WWII

John Hersey one of first western war correspondents (journalists) to arrive in Hiroshima, Japan

Trip sponsored by Life magazine and The New Yorker

Originally published as articles, which sold out within hours of publicationPublication frenzy, Book of the Month, read on

national radio, Albert Einstein ordered 1,00o copies, translated into many languages (except Japanese)

The Enola Gay and Pilot, Paul Tibbits

Atomic Bomb Mushroom Clouds:Hiroshima (L) & Nagasaki (R)

Impact on ReadersPraised as a calm narrative with vivid

characterizationsHersey’s tone is neutral and impartial

Some criticize his lack of moral outrage and failure to suggest the bomb was unnecessary

Some criticize his failure to suggest the success of the bomb in ending the war

Hiroshima made suffering of Japanese real to distant, oftentimes Japanese-hating Americans

Showed Japanese were not that different from Americans

Remaining Neutral in Face of Horror

PlotOn August 6, 1945, American army drops atom

bomb on Hiroshima, Japan Out of a population of 250,000-- 100,000

people killed and 100,000 injured Hiroshima traces the lives of six survivors—

two doctors, two women, and two religious men—from the moment the bomb drops until a few months later.

In 1985, Hersey added fifth chapter which reexamines these six individuals’ lives in the forty years since the bomb

Map of Hiroshima Prior to A-bomb

CharactersMrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura -  A tailor’s widow living

in Hiroshima.Dr. Terufumi Sasaki -  A young surgeon at the Red

Cross Hospital in Hiroshima.Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge -  A German Jesuit

priest living in Hiroshima.Toshiko Sasaki -  A young clerk who works in a tin

works factory.Dr. Masakazu Fujii -  A physician whose clinic

topples into the water when the bomb strikes.Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto -  A Methodist

pastor living in Hiroshima.

Themes, Motifs, SymbolsThemes

Community survival in the face of mass destructionJapanese stoicism and personal submissionUnnatural power of the bomb

MotifsDeathAcceptance of life’s unpredictabilityConfusion and ignorance

SymbolsNew lush greeneryKeloidsWater