1. Reverend Tanimoto and Miss Sasaki are the two characters that I will hold onto. Both of these characters connected with me more than the other four characters. Mr. Tanimoto was such a hero for the people of Hiroshima. After the bomb had been dropped, many people had laid wounded on the sand spits and in the streets. Very few people were not really harmed after the bombing. Mr. Tanimoto was one of those people. He took a bamboo pole and a small boat and risked his life by transporting people from dangerous places to more safe ones. He was absolutely a hero. As for Miss Sasaki, she was very lonely after the bomb was dropped. She was left for dead because she was buried and no one found her until days later. However, what I found most remarkable with her is the fact that she was once an atheist and then Father Kleinsorge showed her the way to God which led her to comfort other people as they passed away. This just shows that in the toughest of times, you must hold onto your faith. I always have faith in God no matter what life throws at me.
2. After reading this book, I experienced a wide variety of emotions and feelings. But the most frequent and in my opinion, the most important emotion was pure and utter sadness. What happened to the innocent citizens of Hiroshima was absolutely horrific. The pain, suffering, and loss that these people experienced pulled at my heart strings. So many people died and so many others were wounded. Those who did live had so many health and psychological issues for the rest of their lives. I understand that Japan had the chance to surrender and avoid all of it, but the people of Hiroshima were innocent citizens who did nothing to deserve something that destructive. And that is sad because so many innocent people were killed.
3. - "They died in silence, with no grudge, setting their teeth to bear it. All for the country!" (Page 88). This just shows the true spirit and resilience of the Japanese people. They are always ready for everything and they face fear with great courage. Most people in our society are scared of death. But the Japanese in Hiroshima are some of the most brave and strong people on Earth.
- "It would be impossible to say what horrors were embedded in the minds of the children who lived through the day of the bombing in Hiroshima" (Page 90). This speaks very loudly. I cannot imagine what it was like for the children of Hiroshima to go through this, let alone the adults. Many would be haunted for many years afterword and they would be the ones who experienced long-term health issues which even were passed onto their children.
- "His memory, like the world's, was getting spotty" (Page 152). In my opinion, this was the best line to end this book. Hersey is trying to get people to not forget about what happened so that way it won't happen in the future. This is the main lesson or theme in the book. With this finishing line, he puts an emphasis on our memory and why we need to do something now to prevent this from happening again.
4. This book, without a doubt, teaches a very valuable lesson. We can continue to pursue the next big things. We can always try to have the biggest weapon and the strongest military. But that means nothing. This book just shows the sheer destruction of a nuclear weapon. The misfortune in all this is the fact that despite the horrors after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, most countries pursued having a nuclear weapon with great interest. Albert Einstein regretted helping American scientists to create the bomb because he knew that he had created something that could destroy the whole world as we know it. These are very clear lessons presented in the book. However, there is something we can learn to do from this book. We must learn to appreciate heroic efforts in times of terror. People like Mr. Tanimoto are hard to come by and his efforts as well as the efforts of the U.S. military should be appreciated and valued. We can also learn to never forget things like the bombing of Hiroshima. If we forget this event, we will slowly head towards the use of another nuclear weapon. In the case of Hiroshima, memory is prevention. For those who remember the horrific act, they would never use a nuclear weapon again. We must value history and use it to guide our actions in the present and in the future in order to insure peace and prosperity.
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