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HIROSHIMA...

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HIROSHIMA SUMMARY How It All Goes Down This book is kind of like a really depressing version of Love Actually: John Hersey chronicles the experiences of six people from various walks of life. Except he doesn't talk about their rom-com Yuletide heartache; he talks about the day the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. We learn where each person was leading up to at the moment of the detonation, and we also learn what happened to each of the six people in the months and years following the attack. Here are our usual suspects: Mr. Tanimoto, a minister who had been helping a friend move some stuff out to the suburbs, ended up running back towards the city and helping out the wounded. Miss Sasaki, who had just sat down at her desk, ended up buried beneath rubble and books, breaking her leg in the process. She was not rescued for some time. Mrs. Nakamura, meanwhile, ended up under some rubble, but she managed to rescue herself (and her children) relatively quickly before heading for the evacuation zone. Dr. Fujii sustained some injuries when his hospital fell into a nearby river, but he ultimately escaped and hightailed it out to the suburbs. Dr. Sasaki, who had been on his way to deliver some blood to the lab when the bomb dropped, was so ideally positioned within the walls of the hospital that he didn't end up getting injured (unlike all the other doctors). Finally, Father Kleinsorge, who had been feeling unwell and was in bed wearing just his underwear when the bomb went off, ended up with lots of small cuts and wandering in the garden in his skivvies. In the months and years that followed, some of the individuals Hersey interviewed suffered from radiation poisoning and/or chronic health problems (for example, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Miss Sasaki, and Mr. Tanimoto). Miss Sasaki's health issues were compounded by the fact that she was now responsible for raising her younger siblings and had her dirtbag fiancé run out on her because of the injuries she sustained to her leg (which were quite noticeable and made it hard for her to get around). Mr. 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 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. All in all, it seems, the six people Hersey followed ended up not only surviving, but also thriving in their own individual ways.

THEME OF MEMORY This theme probably isn't too much of a shocker, since Hiroshima is structured around the memories of six survivors of the bombing of Hiroshima during World War II. Some—for example, Mrs. Nakamura—seemed to prefer not to be stuck in their memories and just want to move forward with their lives/future, while others (Mr. Tanimoto) felt that looking into the past was pretty important in order to ensure any kind of future. Since Hersey takes the trouble to delve into all these people's memories of the attack (and return to them 40 years later to get updates), it seems like he probably felt that remembering things was pretty dang important.

THEME OF FATE/CHANCE Whoa, maybe truth is stranger than fiction. In Hiroshima there are a surprising number of chance encounters—in fact, we'd probably find the sheer number of these events to be "too convenient to be true' if we read them in a fictional work. In any case, the six subjects of Hiroshima seemed to have serendipitous encounters or moments of pure chance/luck—if anything is really lucky when you endure an atomic attack—in which they escape graver harm than they might have otherwise.

THEME OF FEAR If anything can be classified under the category of "Grade A Nightmare Food," it's an atomic bomb. Hersey describes how fear factors into his subjects' behavior (and even survival) during the aftermath of the bomb; for some, it was a paralyzing, while others used it to fuel escape/rescue efforts. Ultimately, though, what seemed to set all six of Hiroshima's characters apart was that they overcame fear to ensure their own survival—and also the survival of their families.

THEME OF SUFFERING Consider yourself warned: while the book isn't super graphic or sensationalistic, Hersey goes into a great deal of detail about the aftermath of the bombing, including the illnesses, injuries, and physical destruction that were basically everywhere and affecting everyone. This is the opposite of pretty. Reading this stuff isn't for the faint of heart, as the six subjects (and their families) often suffered on multiple levels. For example, Mrs. Nakamura's health, livelihood, home, and children all suffered immensely (and in the case of her health,

permanently) from the bombing. Hersey keeps the tone journalistic and all, but his simple, straightforward descriptions of incredible horrors bring home the suffering that survivors endured in a crystal-clear way.

THEME OF DEATH Huh—death is a huge theme in a book about the bombing of Hiroshima? Who'd have thunk it? Oh yeah: everyone. Even thought the six survivors at the heart of Hiroshima were, you know, survivors, they were often forced to confront death on a personal level as well as on a massive scale. The city was littered with the dead and dying. In discussing the subjects' confrontations with death, Hersey delves into their personal/spiritual attitudes about that idea—and also discusses traditional Japanese beliefs regarding death and the dead.

THEME OF FOREIGNNESS Culture clash is a big deal in Hiroshima—after all, if there's a better example of two cultures at odds than war, we don't really want to see it. Wartime Japan was pretty much rife with suspicion and xenophobia. Even Father Kleinsorge—who, as a German, was associated with Japan's allies—was viewed with suspicion. Mr. Tanimoto got the stink eye from one of his neighbors just because he spoke English and had been to school in the U.S. By drawing attention to this tension surrounding foreignness in Japan, Hersey taps into the kinds of misunderstanding, fear, and hatred that have everything to do with war itself.

THEME OF RELIGION Since Hiroshima is a piece of journalism, it totally shies away from making any grand or generalized statements about religion and its meaning/purpose in light of events like an atomic bombing. But… Hersey does draw attention to the role religion/religious figures played in the six subjects' response to the crisis—and after all, it's hard not to notice that three of the six subjects ended up being members of the clergy. The bombing definitely seemed to bring the subjects of religion/God to the forefront of people's minds, and for some—for example, Miss Sasaki—it helped sort out the meaning of life....