1. By John Hersey

2. Author Biography John Hersey 1914-1993 Born and raised till age 10 in China Mother was a missionary, Dad worked for YMCA in China Graduated from Yale in 1936 Worked for Time and LIFE magazines Worked as a WWII journalist/ correspondent

3. Writing Achievements Wrote non-fiction and fiction ranging from surviving the atrocities of WWII to futuristic novels and historical fiction Most popular and widely acclaimed books were based on his wartime correspondence, specifically Hiroshima A Bell for Adano about the U.S. army in Italy won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction 1945 The Wall about the Warsaw Ghetto resistance Given many honorary degrees for his work

4. Historical Context of Novel August 6, 1945 the first Atomic Bomb is dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in an effort to end WWII John Hersey one of first western war correspondents (journalists) to arrive in Hiroshima, Japan Trip sponsored by Life magazine and The New Yorker Originally published as articles, which sold out within hours of publication Publication frenzy, Book of the Month, read on national radio, Albert Einstein ordered 1,00o copies, translated into many languages (except Japanese)

5. The Enola Gay and Pilot, Paul Tibbits

6. Atomic Bomb Mushroom Clouds: Hiroshima (L) & Nagasaki (R)

7. Impact on Readers Praised as a calm narrative with vivid characterizations Hersey’s tone is neutral and impartial Some criticize his lack of moral outrage and failure to suggest the bomb was unnecessary Some criticize his failure to suggest the success of the bomb in ending the war Hiroshima made suffering of Japanese real to distant, oftentimes Japanese-hating Americans Showed Japanese were not that different from Americans

8. Remaining Neutral in Face of Horror

9. Plot On August 6, 1945, American army drops atom bomb on Hiroshima, Japan Out of a population of 250,000-- 100,000 people killed and 100,000 injured Hiroshima traces the lives of six survivors—two doctors, two women, and two religious men—from the moment the bomb drops until a few months later. In 1985, Hersey added fifth chapter which reexamines these six individuals’ lives in the forty years since the bomb

10. Map of Hiroshima Prior to A-bomb

11. Characters Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura - A tailor’s widow living in Hiroshima. Dr. Terufumi Sasaki - A young surgeon at the Red Cross Hospital in Hiroshima. Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge - A German Jesuit priest living in Hiroshima. Toshiko Sasaki - A young clerk who works in a tin works factory. Dr. Masakazu Fujii - A physician whose clinic topples into the water when the bomb strikes. Reverend Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto - A Methodist pastor living in Hiroshima.

13. Themes, Motifs, Symbols Themes Community survival in the face of mass destruction Japanese stoicism and personal submission Unnatural power of the bomb Motifs Death Acceptance of life’s unpredictability Confusion and ignorance Symbols New lush greenery Keloids Water