Hiroshima 555Robert Cohn is a man who lacks that passion. In
fact, the other men compare him to a steer, which
is a young, castrated bull—the symbol of a lack of
manliness. They laugh at him for the way in which
he follows Brett, just as the steers hang around the
bulls waiting for their attention. Ironically, Cohn
is the most violent man in the novel, decking his
friends and nearly killing Pedro Romero in his
frustration at Brett’s rejection. Cohn’s traditional
sense of pride and honor alienate him from the
world around him, just as Jake’s impotence and
Brett’s independence alienate them. Gender roles
are another way that Hemingway’s characters are
not at home in the world.
James Ford
HErSEy, joHn Hiroshima (1946)
In the spring of 1946, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
John Hersey flew to Japan to interview six survivors
of the atom bomb that devastated Hiroshima on
August 6, 1945. The New Yorker magazine published
Hersey’s long article in August 1946; the article was
later issued as a book, entitled Hiroshima. In 1985,
Hersey returned to Japan to write a follow-up article
on the six survivors. The New Yorker also published
this piece, entitled “The Aftermath,” which was
soon added to a revised edition of the book.
Following World War II, many Americans felt
intense hatred toward Japan. Hiroshima can be read,
in part, as a response to that hatred. For example,
some of Hersey’s readers were Christian, and his
inclusion of a Japanese United Methodist minister
and a German Jesuit priest among the profiled
survivors allowed his readers to see that some differ-
ences between American and Japanese cultures, such
as religion, were not as vast as believed at the time.
The book also sympathetically details the plight of
families. One example is a mother suffering from
radiation sickness and poverty, who must provide for
her three young children. Hersey’s journalism made
it difficult for the American public to justify preju-
dice against its former enemies of war because the
two cultures, although different, share basic human
values and emotions.
The atomic bomb dropped by the U.S. Army Air
Force on Hiroshima killed approximately 100,000
Japanese plus foreign civilians and military person-
nel. Out of this tragedy, the book makes clear, arose
tremendous suffering. But selfless acts of heroism
kept the community together. People also survived
by giving friends and strangers hope that Hiroshi-
mans would heal and rebuild their lives.
Elizabeth CornellheroiSm in Hiroshima
Heroism is a bold act of courage. A hero often acts
at the risk of his or her own life or well-being. Gen-
erally, a person is not conscious of acting heroically,
nor does someone perform a heroic deed only to
be recognized as a hero. John Hersey’s Hiroshima
is filled with heroes and acts of heroism, large and
small. For example, minutes after the bomb explodes
over Hiroshima, Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura digs her
children out of the rubble that was once their house.
Her act of heroism is motivated by desperation, love,
and maternal instinct. Mrs. Nakamura is a heroine
because her effort to save the lives of her children is
a selfless one.
Hersey details other remarkable instances of
selfless heroism like Mrs. Nakamura’s. Father Klein-
sorge, who is “apathetic and dazed in the presence of
the cumulative distress” caused by the destruction of
Hiroshima, learns that the secretary of the diocese is
trapped in the second floor window of the burning
mission. Kleinsorge shakes himself out of his dazed
state and runs into the flaming building. Mr. Fukai
wants to remain in the house to die, but Klein-
sorge refuses to honor his wish. With the help of
a student, he drags Fukai downstairs and outdoors.
Since Fukai refuses to walk, Kleinsorge hoists him
on his back and they escape from the fire that soon
devours everything in the neighborhood. But when
Kleinsorge sits down to rest, Fukai runs away, back
into the fire. He is never seen again. Sometimes
heroic acts are unappreciated or even unwanted by
the recipient.
Rescuing people from life or death situations,
as Kleinsorge did at the risk of his own life, are
clear acts of heroism. But, as Hersey’s book shows,
heroism is not always associated with high-risk
situations. Moreover, heroic deeds do not necessar-
ily have clear-cut beginnings and ends, and often
continue for long periods of time. Mrs. Nakamura is