Hiroshima Analysis

First of all, before you dig into the book, you have to be aware of where Hersey's story starts, with respect to World War II. Just in case you're not totally up on your World War II history, we'll...

The third person narrator—who is Hersey—goes above and beyond to leave himself out of the story and present the stories of his six subjects in an objective, journalistic way. There is no "I" vo...

This is pretty much a no brainer: The story revolves around the dropping of the first atomic bomb during World War II (there's the "war") and chronicles the impact of that event on six individuals...

As a journalist, Hersey seems to try to let the events/actions themselves do the talking without adopting an attitude or slant toward his material. Even when he's intervening enough to draw attenti...

Hersey primarily sticks to "just the facts, ma'am" style of journalism. Even when he's delving into the experiences of the six individuals who served as his subjects, he appears simply to be report...

In keeping with Hersey's straightforward, journalistic style, the title gets right to the point—no frills, no metaphors, just the name of the place where the action went down. Of course, using "H...

Hersey ends his exploration of the six survivors with the details on Mr. Tanimoto's life since the bombing. As we move toward the end, Hersey sticks with his largely journalistic style in reporting...

Hersey writes in a very readable journalistic style, taking the facts (as presented to him by the six survivors, presumably) and weaving them into coherent sequential narrative of the day's events....

Just Another Normal* Day*Is there such a thing as "normal" when you live under constant threat of being bombed? Probably not, but in any case, the six individuals at the center of this story have b...

Like freakin' everyone in Hiroshima, the six individuals Hersey chronicles were living in a state of constant watchfulness/fear/horrific anticipation when day dawned on August 6, 1946. Hiroshima wa...

August 6, 1945 was a "normal" day in Hiroshima, where "normal" means residents living in constant fear/expectation of an American attack. Fun.Because a warning siren had just gone off early that mo...

Referring to Hersey's article, Harold Ross, the founder of The New Yorker, claimed, "I don't think I've ever got as much satisfaction out of anything else in my life."http://www.newyorker.com/onlin...

Okay, so, this is not exactly a sexy topic or book, so you don't need to prepare for any actual steaminess per se. However, the subject matter is definitely heavy sledding in certain places. Hersey...

Pearl S. Buck (5.132)Norman Cousins (5.133, 134, 137, 138, 144, 150, 151, 154, 155, and 182) Robert J. Lifton, Death in Life: Survivors of Hiroshima (5.69) The Bible (5.75)The Comintern (5.102...