Hiroshima- John Hersey Essay Example
FARA EHSAN
Hiroshima
‘Hiroshima is not merely a documentary, Hersey manages to inject into the narrative both compassion and awareness of the ultimate triumph of humanity.’ Discuss Hiroshima from this perspective.
Hiroshima is an historic depiction of a disaster that shocked the world. Utilizing the experiences of six Japanese atomic bomb survivors Hersey expresses compassion and awareness of the city’s triumph over the disaster. The narrative creates compassion by showing perseverance of common people and their journeys to overcome the tragedy. By using the patriotism of the dying victims Hersey creates empathy and outlines the nation’s indefatigable pride, He depicts Hiroshima’s triumph as a community uniting together to help each other in a time of adversity.
The narrative focuses on six bomb survivors and their accounts during and after the bomb. Using the accounts of the survivors’ Hersey is able to extract compassion to the reader. Mrs Hatsuyo Nakamura was a widowed mother of three who suffered great poverty after the bomb; she was left torn and fragile. Suffering from radiation sickness and no means of income, Mrs Nakamura never loses hope. In an attempt to overcome her obstacles she worked countless jobs but barely earned enough to suffice. Regardless of how hard the task was physically and emotionally Mrs N was willing to do and sacrifice anything for the good of her children
She earned barely enough for food… Her belly began to swell up, and she had diarrhoea and so much pain she could no longer work at all… The doctor treated Nakamura-san…to pay the doctor she was forced to sell her last valuable possession, her husband’s sewing machine. (p119, 120).
And after all the hardship she was finally able to rebuild her life slowly:
She felt at home in her body now; she rested when she needed, and she had no worries about the cost of medical care…It was time for her to enjoy life.(p128).
Using her experiences Hersey is able to
Hiroshima
‘Hiroshima is not merely a documentary, Hersey manages to inject into the narrative both compassion and awareness of the ultimate triumph of humanity.’ Discuss Hiroshima from this perspective.
Hiroshima is an historic depiction of a disaster that shocked the world. Utilizing the experiences of six Japanese atomic bomb survivors Hersey expresses compassion and awareness of the city’s triumph over the disaster. The narrative creates compassion by showing perseverance of common people and their journeys to overcome the tragedy. By using the patriotism of the dying victims Hersey creates empathy and outlines the nation’s indefatigable pride, He depicts Hiroshima’s triumph as a community uniting together to help each other in a time of adversity.
The narrative focuses on six bomb survivors and their accounts during and after the bomb. Using the accounts of the survivors’ Hersey is able to extract compassion to the reader. Mrs Hatsuyo Nakamura was a widowed mother of three who suffered great poverty after the bomb; she was left torn and fragile. Suffering from radiation sickness and no means of income, Mrs Nakamura never loses hope. In an attempt to overcome her obstacles she worked countless jobs but barely earned enough to suffice. Regardless of how hard the task was physically and emotionally Mrs N was willing to do and sacrifice anything for the good of her children
She earned barely enough for food… Her belly began to swell up, and she had diarrhoea and so much pain she could no longer work at all… The doctor treated Nakamura-san…to pay the doctor she was forced to sell her last valuable possession, her husband’s sewing machine. (p119, 120).
And after all the hardship she was finally able to rebuild her life slowly:
She felt at home in her body now; she rested when she needed, and she had no worries about the cost of medical care…It was time for her to enjoy life.(p128).
Using her experiences Hersey is able to