The Psychological Impact Of The Atomic Bomb On Hiroshima

“Hiroshima,” brings to light the psychological impact the detonation of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima had. Following the atomic bomb, over a hundred thousand people were dead and another one hundred thousand people severely injured in a city with a population of 250,000. Dr. Sasaki and Mr. Tanimoto were left wondering why they had survived while so many others had perished, this is known as survivor’s guilt and it can be very heavy and dangerous baggage to carry. On the historic day of the first use of the atomic weapon, Mr. Tanimoto spent most of his time helping people however, one night he was walking in the dark and he tripped over an injured person. He felt a sense of shame for accidentally hurting wounded people, who were in enough pain

as it is, and this was stated to be a direct result of his guilt and embarrassment of being able to walk normally and upright, unlike most people after the bomb. Dr. Sasaki moved out of Hiroshima, six years after the bomb; it was his withdraw, much like an addict’s withdraw, from being a hibakusha and the awful effects the memories had on him psychologically. For the remainder of his life, these events would haunt him and he would be unable to recover and forget. He was plagued by his failure to properly label and identify all the dead to the Red Cross hospital. This was significant to him because of the Japanese code of honor; unidentified bodies could not get the honor that they felt was deserved to those individuals. Through this, the author, John Hersey shows the reader the damaging psychological affects the atomic bomb has had on those who survived and the guilt associated with them not perishing with the majority of Hiroshima’s population. The exposure brought to the psychological effects, effectively exposes the readers to yet another long lasting form of damage caused by the nuclear event over Hiroshima that can last a lifetime or more.