The Bomb of the 20th Century: Was it Justified?

Hiroshima, by John Hersey, documents the events in the lives of six people living in Japan before, during and after the deployment of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Due to the fact that the people that he interviewed were bomb victims, they were able to describe, in gruesome detail, the effects of the bomb on their lives. Hersey writes Hiroshima to inform the American people about the suffering of the victims, and to help them understand the atomic bomb from the lens of those affected. As an American writing for Americans, he can narrate a provocative book explaining events that happened to an enemy of America without being subject to xenophobia. In Hiroshima, John Hersey effectively establishes that the bomb dropped on Hiroshima was exceedingly destructive by explaining the chaos unleashed on the Japanese. He achieves this by excluding his opinions and increasing his Ethos appeal to make sure that the damage dealt to the city of Hiroshima is clear to the reader.

John Hersey shows that the atomic bomb is merciless by explaining the effect of the bomb on children. Hersey describes a mother’s search for her children to do so, “She heard a child cry, ‘Mother, help me,’ and saw her youngest, Myeko… buried up to her breast and unable to move. As Mrs. Nakamura started frantically to claw her baby, she could see or hear nothing of her other children” (Hersey 10, 11). He uses an example of children in danger because they are usually perceived as vulnerable, which helps Hersey make his point. Consequently, the reader undergoes feelings of sorrow because those who are attacked are not capable of defending themselves. Hersey is able to easily prove his case by illustrating the suffering of the most vulnerable of victims.

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...n the book. Hiroshima is a work of literature that is powerful enough for the reader to reflect on the destruction independently. “Testimony of Yoshitaka Kawamoto” supplements Hiroshima. Kawamoto depicts an image that is aided by his first-hand experience. “Truman Informs the Nation that an Atomic Weapon has been detonated in Japan” attempts to refute the arguments of both Hersey and Kawamoto. Truman criminalizes the Japanese and victimizes Americans in order to raise support for the atomic bomb after it is dropped. His case however, is not convincing, because he does not justify killing thousands of civilians, yet he authorizes it. John Hersey allows the people who suffered through the bomb dropping on Hiroshima to express themselves, to give their personal experiences, to show their suffering to Americans, but most of all, John Hersey gives the Japanese a voice.