Black Rain

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BLACK RAIN by Masuji

Ibuse The main character in the novel is in some ways like

myself. Mr. Shizuma is a person that is intrigued by many

things and likes to see what reaction people have from any

action. Throughout the novel he feels the need to go to

different parts of the city and surrounding communities in

order to see the effects of the unknown bomb. Mr. Shizuma

was not only interested in what happened to the people of

the community but he was also interested in finding out what

the weapon used was called and made out of. There were

different names given to the bomb throughout the book and

he sums up the names in one paragraph, The name of the

bomb had already undergone a number of changes, from the

initial “new weapon” through “new-type bomb,” “secret

weapon,” “special new-type bomb,” to “special

high-capacity bomb.” That day, I learned for the first time to

call it an “atomic bomb.” (Black Rain 282) The importance

of the name of the bomb may seem ineffectual, but he seems

to dwell on finding out what caused this type of destruction.

Something else that Mr. Shizuma wants to do is remember

every little detail about what happens to everything from

what angle the house was on after the bomb to what his wife

cooked for dinner with the food rationing. He even likes to

write how people cured themselves of radiation sickness and

what the burns and other injuries look and act like. These

things are like myself in the fact that he does not like to

forget what things are like, wants to see first hand what the

effects are, and is very interested in finding information about

new things that he has never seen before. He also likes to

help people greatly such as his constant wanderings looking

for coal for his community. If you were depended on would

you help your community? I think so. The theme that is very

meaningful to me is that war hurts two different parts of a

country. The first is the military, which was not really talked

about, and then there is the civilians. The civilians must ration

food so that the military can eat, and then they must also

suffer because the bomb that was dropped was not meant

for any military base but to destroy and kill a city. The theme

is clear in meaning that it hurts the civilians much more than it

hurts the military and that war is very, very cruel. The people

that were rationing had very little to eat and that amount

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