When you hear about the atomic bomb, you may first think about the end of the world war II. You hear a lot about the American side and how the atomic bomb was a great success, but you don’t hear as much about the people who had to survive and endure the consequences of the bomb.
The book Hiroshima by John Hersey is the perfect book to better understand the trauma and pain that the citizens of Hiroshima had to face. It tells the stories of six survivors who survived the atomic
bomb being dropped onto Hiroshima. It takes a look into each of the survivors’ lives and the different ways that they lived the tragic event. This book was published in 1946 which was a year after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. At the time, it was the first look that the western world got of the destruction that the bomb caused the citizens living in Hiroshima.
Throughout the book, you start to see the reoccurring theme of survival and cooperation. As I read the book, it almost felt like everyone was a part of a community. The idea of community is scattered throughout the book. In chapter two there is a quote that says “The house next door, which its owner had been tearing down to make way for a fire lane, was now very thoroughly if crudely, torn down; its owner, who had been sacrificing his home for the community’s safety, lay dead.” This is just one example of where the idea of community is prevalent.
Throughout the book, you see the survivors being put into certain moral and ethical dilemmas. A lot of the time, the survivors do what’s best for others, rather than what’s best for themselves. They become selfless in their decisions throughout the book. Some of the survivors decide to care for the wounded working day and night to make sure they can assist as many people as possible. Others go out searching for citizens in need of help and who have been separated from family. The survivors made sacrifices for the greater good of the people around them. This is a message that I feel that John Hersey has emphasized through his writing.
John Hersey uses a style of writing that incorporates the ideas of fictional story-telling techniques blended with non-fictional reporting. The tone of this book was more frightening because of the way the author describes the events that took place. He 
illustrated the graphic scenes in the book with vivid detail. Such as “their faces were wholly burned, their eyesockets were hollow, the fluid from their melted eyes had run down their cheeks.” This helps the reader understand just some of the horrific events that the people had to witness after the bomb had been dropped.
From these events and the reader getting a better understanding of what the survivors are going through, you start to empathize with the characters better. You start to understand what they had to go through which may help you connect to certain survivors.
John Hersey also chose to write the events of the survivors as an observer. John Hersey has interviewed all of these survivors and collected information and was able to tie all of the events together. During one of our Socratic Seminars, we looked over the question of “From the text, do you think John Hersey is with or against the bomb.” There were people during the seminar that made points that they felt he was with the bomb and people who thought he was against it. I feel that what’s great about the book Hiroshima is John Hersey can tie all the events together without his own bias or judgement over ideas. Even though he has the power of choosing what details to choose and emphasize about the survivor’s stories, from reading I feel that there were no passages that made me realize where John Hersey’s morals were on the bomb. This allows the reader of the book to think of their idea based on the content of the book and their knowledge surrounding the atomic bomb.
Overall, I found that this book was a great way in teaching me the historical significance of the atomic bomb and its impact on Hiroshima. The fact that this book is still being taught in school and explored by new students today shows it’s importants and significance. Even after all these years, the stories of those survivors resonate around the world. That’s what makes the book historically significant and interesting to read.
