Total War and the Devastation of the Atomic Bomb: “An Analytical Review of John Hersey’s Hiroshima”

After having visited Hiroshima recently during a study abroad program last May, I absolutely dreaded having to read a book entitled Hiroshima. I had visited the A-Bomb monument and crossed over the Aioi Bridge to the Peace Memorial Park. There were spectacular rose gardens and memorial monuments in all directions. The walk to the Peace Museum was both a humbling and breathtaking experience. While at the Peace Museum, I was able to see first hand, the remnants of the destruction. I saw the “shadow people” imprinted like photo negatives on concrete, pictures of people with their flesh melting off their bones like well-roasted pork, and badly scorched clothing worn by the children working in the fields. The tone, however, was not one of blame or hatred towards Americans; rather, it was one of educating others of the destructive effects of nuclear weapons to ensure that it will never happen again. The phrase repeated was “never again.” The Mayor of Hiroshima took it upon himself to plea to all countries testing nuclear weapons, to learn from the devastation inflicted upon his city. There were walls covered in thousands of letters written by the Mayor. Written almost daily over the course of his lifetime and then continued by his wife, these letters were desperately begging for the cessation of all nuclear testing. These letters are still being written by the current Mayor to this day. John Hersey took his opportunity as a journalist to convey these atrocities to the American public shortly after the bomb had been dropped.

The parents of John Hersey were American missionaries. He was born in Tientsin, China on June 17, 1914, later to graduate from Yale and Cambridge Universities. He took up a career in journalism becoming a correspondent for Time Magazine. He began writing for Life and The New Yorker during World War II and got an opportunity to convoy with the US Military during the offensive on Sicily. In 1945, Hersey received the Nobel Prize for his novel A Bell for Adano which was inspired by his convoy experiences. Hersey also covered stories from the War in the Pacific including how a young Lieutenant John F. Kennedy was able to get his troops back to safety after the PT109 was sunk close to the Solomon Islands, a Japanese munitions island (“John Hersey”).

In 1945, The New Yorker sent Hersey to Hiroshima to report on the aftermath of the first Atomic Bomb. According to Wikipedia, Hersey found a document written by a Jesuit among the rubble and located him. The Jesuit then introduced Hersey to other survivors to interview about their story of survival. When he returned to the United States, The New Yorker dedicated an entire issue to Hersey’s article. He wanted to describe the cost paid for our victory so that the American public could understand the implications of what we had done in order to win/end the war. He did not want Americans to take the use of these types of weapons lightly. This issue of The New Yorker sold like hotcakes and it was read over the radio until eventually being published as a book for all to read. This work is known as the earliest form of New Journalism where the journalist reports their facts in a novel-like format.

Hiroshima is a detailed account of the life and struggle of six survivors of the first Atomic Bomb from the moment it happened to a year later. These survivors included a clerk from the East Asia Tin Works, the doctor of a private hospital, a tailor’s widow, a German priest, a young surgeon, and the Reverend of Hiroshima Methodist Church. It is comprised of four chapters detailing what each person was doing and feeling during the four stages of the devastation caused by the explosion over Hiroshima. Throughout the book, all of these people encountered each other in one way or another.

In August of 1945, the decision was made by President Truman of the United States to end World War II once and for all by dropping the most devastating bomb known to man onto Japan. The US had already developed two of these massively destructive bombs: one for Japan and one for Germany. Germany had already been defeated and the Soviet Union agreed to join in alliance with the US and Brittan. It was clear that Japan was willing to continue fighting until the bitter end. Instead of the risky and costly task of invading Japan, Truman decided to give the Japanese a couple of more chances to surrender. August 6, 1945, at 8:15 am, Japanese time, the Atomic bomb had been delivered over the military and commercial town of Hiroshima. Three days later, their second chance was issued over Nagasaki.

Hersey’s Hiroshima begins with a typical morning for each of the survivors when they noticed a bright white flash. The people of Hiroshima had already been on high alert fearing their city would be next in a series of air raids that had been taking place in several cities all over Japan but never could they have imagined what would befall them in an instant. What seemed like an unusually pleasant and serene morning became a day of unbelievable living hell in a flash. The survivors of this explosion did so purely by the luck of being in a position that shielded them from the most devastating effects of the light or aided them in the survival of radiation, or situational danger.

The first chapter is entitled “The Noiseless Flash.” This chapter gives the entire account of each survivor’s day from the night before or the time they got up until the flash of the bomb. Each survivor was enjoying an unusually quiet morning when they suddenly saw a very bright flash of light. Each of them reacted quickly being that they were already on high alert, only to be thrown by some invisible force. They were trapped beneath beams, riddled with splinters and shards of glass, and buried under rubble. Parents tried desperately to un-trap themselves to get to their children. All were bewildered by what had just happened to them.

The next chapter, “The Fire,” describes what each person saw and did when they were finally able to escape their entrapments. When they made it outside all they could see was destruction in every direction and didn’t know where they should run for safety. Everywhere they looked, they heard people crying for help and water while the obliterated houses began to catch fire. The badly injured laid waiting for assistance from the less injured. The less injured ran around trying to help those who were trapped and injured administering water while apologizing for their lack of injuries. The doctors were already in a hospital where the already ill and injured were now dead and severely injured and thousands more began to flood in with flesh dripping off of their bodies. The doctors found themselves aimlessly treating wounds making their way down corridors of dead and dying people. It was dark outside even though it was still daytime. Everyone found themselves climbing over dead, charred and badly lacerated bodies wondering how it all came to be. Many had the idea that the Americans had sprayed the city with gasoline and set it on fire creating even more panic when gigantic raindrops began to fall from the sky. All who received water began to vomit and most were dead by the next morning. Each of the survivors found themselves in a position where they were unable to drink water for several days after the bombing.

The third Chapter, “Details are being investigated,” discusses each survivor in their individual states and the information they were given from the next morning until the 15^th of August. The morning after the bomb, navy ships set out along Hiroshima’s seven rivers announcing that help was on the way when in fact they were not. Injuries were already infected with puss. The uninjured Pastor was upset that the doctors were paying more attention to the minor injuries than the grave ones. The doctor defended his position by saying that in the most extreme of circumstances it is more important to save the people who will live than to waste resources on the dying. Also on this day, radio broadcasts were emitted about the state of Hiroshima but the only information given was that the “details were being investigated.” By the 8^th, the hospitals found themselves with a puzzling clue when they noticed that all the x-ray plates had been exposed. The second Atomic Bomb was dropped over Nagasaki on the 9^th day but the Japanese government did not distribute the information for a couple of days. There were already rumors about a new type of bomb exponentially more explosive than TNT that involved a complicated matter of splitting atoms. Around the 10^th and the 11^th, the people who worked day and night helping the wounded took a moment to rest and follow up with and locate family members for themselves and others. Hiroshima had established a better state of order around the 12^th day. This chapter ends with the news that the war was over on the 15^th. The Japanese were devastated at the news that they had lost the war but were brought to tears when they heard their beloved Emperor or "Tenno" over the loudspeaker. It was such a great honor that the Emperor himself would personally speak to the people that their broken spirit had been renewed.

The last chapter, “Panic Grass and Feverfew,” discusses why twelve days after the bomb, seemingly healthy survivors began falling extremely week, losing their hair. The white blood count was dropping to dangerously and sometimes fatally low levels. Then, the white blood count began to increase to dangerously and sometimes fatally high levels. This lowered the survival rate substantially. Luckily, Japanese scientists knew quite a bit about nuclear fission and hypothesized that this anomaly was associated with radiation poisoning. They ordered the evacuation of the destruction site to prevent radiation exposure that may have remained after the explosion. They also began to treat this new blood disorder of anemia with vitamin B₁. Luckily the survivors interviewed by Hersey were able to be treated. Once they deemed the area safe a new municipal government had formed to assess the damage and begin restoration efforts. During the recovery effort, the initial death tolls increased by the thousands, as bodies were being excavated from the obliterated and burnt homes. Only relatively new construction was left standing.

During the assessment of the ruins, scientists were able to determine the amount of energy that had been emitted by the bomb, how hot the explosion was and how far the destructive forces reached. Our six survivors moved back to their homes in Hiroshima and began helping in the restoration effort. Children began to resume classes outdoors because they had no classroom. A year after the Atomic Bomb, all of our survivors had found themselves destitute and exhausted. The ethics of the use of the bomb were only really discussed by foreigners because they did not have the same devotion towards the Emperor as the natives. “He who supports total war in principle cannot complain of a war against civilians” (Hersey 90). This is because every Japanese “civilian” is a soldier who’s greatest honor is to defend the Emperor at all cost.

Hiroshima by John Hersey was the hardest book I ever had to read. Even more than books, I have read about the Holocaust. Although the Holocaust hits closer to home historically, the threat of another Atomic Bomb being used is still an extremely real threat to every person on this planet. This book describes the stages of devastation and the misery experienced by the people of Hiroshima. For people unable to visit the Peace Museum, this book is the closest to understanding the horrific effects of nuclear weapons and should be read by all people. It is too easy for people to think that a war could be won with one “super” bomb where everyone dies instantly. It is important for people to know that this is not the case and John Hersey’s book describes the long-term struggle of survival through the lives of these six survivors within the first year of that fateful day. I would like to also add that this book shows the ultimate dedication the Japanese people had for their Emperor. They thought of him as a God and many still do to this day. This creates an extremely dangerous situation. Individually, Japanese people are peaceful and wonderful, but when given a cause with their collective group mentality they can be extremely dangerous and only stoppable by complete eradication. This would explain why such extreme measures were taken to end the war. The US did not want to completely destroy Japan, they wanted them to surrender so that they could rebuild and reestablish their economy and government. The Japanese were being defeated but they would never stop fighting until the Emperor himself was the last man standing.