The first chapter in the book Hiroshima by John Hersey introduces the characters, setting, and the conflict. In Hiroshima, there are six main characters: Ms. Toshiko Sasaki, Dr. Masakazu Fujii, Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, and Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto. Ms. Toshiko Sasaki is a clerk at East Asia Tin Works. Dr. Masakazu Fujii is a doctor who owns a private hospital. Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura is a tailor’s widow who has three kids. Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge is a priest at the Society of Jesus. Dr. Terufumi Sasaki is a part of the surgical staff at a Red Cross hospital. Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto is a pastor at the Hiroshima Methodist Church. Each of the characters are going on with their daily lives before the atomic bomb strikes Hiroshima. Ms. Sasaki was at her work about to talk to one of her coworkers. Mr. Fujii was at his hospital about to read the Osaka Asahi. Mrs. Nakamura was watching a neighbor tear down his house. Fr. Kleinsorge was laying down in his underwear while reading a magazine. Dr. Sasaki was bringing a blood sample so it could be tested. Mr. Tanimoto was in front of a rich man’s house helping unload items that the man feared would be endangered by the bombings.
Once the bomb struck Hiroshima, all of the people began to panic. Mr. Tanimoto fled from the collapsed house of the man he was helping. "In panic, not thinking for the moment of Mr. Matsuo under the ruins, he dashed out into the street. " Dr. Sasaki ran into a doorway because it was one of the safest places. Once he was safe, he began to care for the wounded. "Dr. Sasaki, who believed that the enemy had hit only the building he was in, got bandages and began to bind the wounds of those inside the hospital; while outside, all over Hiroshima, maimed and dying citizens turned their unsteady steps toward the Red Cross Hospital to begin an invasion that was to make Dr. Sasaki forget his private nightmare for a long, long time." Dr. Fujii was trapped under two metal rods from the blow. "Dr. Fujii hardly had time to think that he was dying before he realized that he was alive, squeezed tightly by two long timbers in a V across his chest..." Mrs. Nakamura had gone outside while her children remained inside the house. Once she had seen the bomb go off, she immediately ran to the aid of her children. "As Mrs. Nakamura stood watching her neighbor, everything flashedwhiter than any white she had ever seen. She did not notice what happened to the man next door; the reflex of a mother set her in motion toward her children." Ms. Sasaki, who became paralyzed with fear, became trapped under a bookcase. " The ceiling dropped suddenly and the wooden floor above collapsed in splinters and the people up there came down and the roof above them gave way; but principally and first of all, the bookcases right behind her swooped forward and the contents threw her down, with her left leg horribly twisted and breaking underneath her." Dr. Kleinsorge was wandering through the mission's vegetable garden wondering how he escaped and what happened. "Father Kleinsorge never knew how he got out of the house. The next things he was conscious of were that he was wandering around in the mission's vegetable garden in his underwear, bleeding slightly from a cut along his left flank; that all the buildings round about had fallen down except the Jesuits' mission house, which had long before been braced and double-braced by a priest named Gropper, who was terrified of earthquakes; that the day had turned dark; and that Murata-san, the housekeeper, was nearby, crying over and over, 'Shu Jesusu, awaremi tama! Our Lord Jesus, have pity on us!'"
I find it kinda scary that one day the characters, who are real people, were living their lives somewhat normally (they were still living in fear because of the war) and then BOOM everything changed once the bomb dropped. If we were in a world war right now, I would be hiding out in a bomb shelter with a ton of food, which would include astronaut ice cream and other non-perishable foods. If an atomic bomb was dropped on the US, I think I would be living in fear for a long time. North Korea had threatened to use a nuclear bomb on the US in 2014. Below is a video report about North Korea's threat.
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In this book, an atomic bomb strikes Hiroshima. The first atomic bomb was made with a man made element called Plutonium. Plutonium is made when Uranium-238 absorbs a neutron and becomes Plutonium-239. (Wisconsin Project On Nuclear Arms Control, 2015). The second nuclear bomb was made with Uranium-235. Uraniums-235 is "unstable and fissions when struck by a neutron" (Wisconsin Project On Nuclear Arms Control, 2015). Nuclar weapons concentration has to be 93.5% uranium.
The World's first nuclear test explosion was on July 16, 1945. The test was done by the USA near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The US used Plutonium-239 to make this bomb.
The atomic bomb in Hiroshima was called "Little Boy". It was dropped on August 6, 1945. The US used Urainum-235 to create the bomb. The bomb was dropped by a bomber plane called Enola Gay.
In the book Hiroshima, Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge is a priest. To become a priest you need a bachelor;s degree in religious studies or philosophy. You also need at least a graduate degree in Catholic seminary. Usually, priests are assigned to a seminary to learn what it is like to become a priest. To become a fully ordained priest, prospective priests must perform masses and Catholic ceremonies. Catholic priests have to be committed to the religion and feel like they're being called to be a priest. They have to take a vow not to marry anyone while they are a priest. The exception to that rule are men who are married before becoming a priest. Catholic priests have to be male. "Prospective priests have to be practicing Catholic for at least five years and have been active participants in a local parish for at least two years." (Zeiger, n.d.). Priests can be rejected if they have a crime history, speech impediments, physical deformities, and disagreements with church leaders.
I think some of these requirements are unfair because if someone who has a speech impediment or something wants to become a priest, they could be rejected for something that is not their fault. I could see the crime history and possibly the disagreements with church leaders part, but I don't think the speech impediments or physical deformities part is right.
Harry Truman, the 33rd US president, had to decide if the US was going to bomb Japan. The US army was already fighting in Japan, but Japan had a strong army of 2 million men guarding its islands. Before they made the decision, the Allies demanded that Japan unconditionally surrender, but Japan refused. Truman allowed for the bomb to be dropped. On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb, known as Little Boy, dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. The bomb killed over 170,000 citizens in Japan, either vaporizing them or causing to die from burns or radiation.
Dear Ms. Fitzgerald --
I hope that you're well. Thank you for this post. I am a Hersey biographer, and am wondering where you sourced the images of these six "Hiroshima" protagonists, and if you know the copyright holder.
With thanks,
Lesley