556 Hersey, John
a case in point. Widowed by the war, she is sole care-
taker for her three children. She has few marketable
skills. On top of that, Mrs. Nakamura suffers from
serious radiation sickness. She manages to take in
some sewing, as well as cleaning and laundering for
neighbors, but “she got so tired that she had to take
two days’ rest for every three days she worked. . . .
She earned barely enough for food.” She struggles
for many years. Her heroism lies in never giving
up on herself and her family, despite lingering ill-
ness and the bleak conditions that plague her daily
existence. Her tireless, selfless efforts pay off: Her
children eventually become successful adults. When
Mrs. Nakamura retires, she finally takes pleasure in
living.
Father Kleinsorge also selflessly gives to others,
and does so for the rest of his life. We might say
his life is one long, heroic act. Despite the radia-
tion sickness that afflicts him, Kleinsorge serves his
church faithfully and tirelessly. He conducts Mass,
hears confession, teaches Bible classes, runs eight-
day retreats, visits survivors, and even babysits on
occasion. Hersey explains that Kleinsorge takes “on
himself the Japanese spirit of enryo—setting the self
apart, putting the wishes of others first.” Kleinsorge’s
colleagues think “he might literally kill himself with
kindness to others.”
Sometimes heroes receive medals for their cou-
rageous acts. Kleinsorge receives nothing but deep
gratitude from everyone he touches until his final
days, when some of his selfless service to others is
paid back. When Kleinsorge is unable to take care
of even his most basic needs, he receives loving and
round-the-clock care from his helper, Yoshiki-san.
Their relationship demonstrates a view of heroism
described by Thomas Carlyle, a 19th-century Scot-
tish philosopher. Carlyle wrote that heroes are “lead-
ers of men”; they are “the modellers, patterns, and
in a wide sense, creators, of whatsoever the general
mass of men contrived to do or attain.” One implica-
tion of this passage is that common people admire
heroism and may wish to emulate heroes. Klein-
sorge, “a leader” of people, can be seen as a “modeller”
who creates “patterns” of behavior for others to copy.
Yoshiki-san’s selfless service to the dying Kleinsorge
is an emulation of the selfless heroism the priest
modeled throughout his life.
The bombing of Hiroshima was a terrible
act against humans; but the outcome was not
entirely negative. As the feats of heroism described
above show, it takes more than a bomb—even a
nuclear bomb—to break the human spirit, heroic or
otherwise.
Elizabeth Cornellhope in Hiroshima
A curtain of flames reflects in the night sky over
bombed-out Hiroshima, and a girl rescued from
a toxic river shivers. Father Kleinsorge, one of the
six survivors profiled by John Hersey in Hiroshima,
brings her a blanket. But she continues to shiver
uncontrollably. The priest brings her another blan-
ket. “I am so cold,” she says, “and then she suddenly
stopped shivering and was dead.” The blanket offers
the girl a hope of warmth and life, but her death
makes the post-bomb scene feel hopeless indeed.
The thousands of slimy, swollen, and discolored
human bodies only add to the sense of hopelessness.
Reverend Tanimoto, one of the uninjured few, keeps
reminding himself that these people “ ‘are human
beings.’ ” In the initial days after the American
bombing of Hiroshima, hope feels like a luxury to
the sick and dying crowds of people. One doctor is
only willing to take care of the slightly wounded. He
explains, “There is no hope for the heavily wounded.
They will die. We can’t bother with them.” But glim-
mers of hope cut through the nightmare. A Japanese
naval launch traverses the seven rivers of Hiroshima
to announce the imminent arrival of a naval hospital
ship. This gives the people cheer and hope. However,
no ship arrives.
False hope is common in the desperate days after
the bombing, but sometimes even that kind of hope
is useful. For example, at the Catholic International
Hospital in Tokyo, a doctor presents an optimistic
face to Father Kleinsorge, who is very sick. The doc-
tor promises to send Kleinsorge home in two weeks;
but privately, to the Mother Superior, he predicts
that the priest—and all the “ ‘bomb people’ ”—will
die. He holds little hope, but understands that giv-
ing this kind of false hope is the best medicine he
can offer. Kleinsorge does survive, however, as do
many “bomb people.” Perhaps Kleinsorge’s deep
faith in God gives him hope for survival. Later, he