HIROSHIMA. By John Hersey

Transcription

1 HIROSHIMA By John Hersey

2 Unit Base Statements: Directions: Read each statement below and decide whether you agree, disagree, or both. Once you have indicated your choice by labeling each statement with A, D, or B, go back and write one or two complete sentences explaining your reasoning. 1. In times of war, it is acceptable for the military to target and kill civilian populations if it benefits its strategic goals. 2. If you are the ruler of a country, it is your job to protect your country and its people at any cost. 3. Even though everyone has a different perspective, and no two people will experience an event in the same way, it is still possible to write non-fiction accounts of history.

3 Hiroshima Reasons for the Decision 1. Official Reasons a. to end the war quickly (Kamikaze raids symbolized Japan s determination to continue the war regardless of the cost in human lives.) b. to save lives (Approximately one million casualties would result from a land invasion of Japan.) 2. Additional Reasons a. to make good Trumans threat (ultimatum) with a show of force b. to make Europe manageable (Truman message to the Soviet Union) c. to end the war with Japan before Russia declared war on Japan (keep the Soviets out of the settlement at the end of the war) Bombing Orders (Truman) 1. Bomb one of four targets as soon after Aug. 3, 1945, as possible when weather permitted a visual sighting of one of the following targets: Hiroshima, Niigata, Nagasaki. a. Hiroshima was the preferred target because it was - port of embarkation - naval command headquarters - convoy assembly site - army headquarters - manufacturing center - military communications center - relatively flat terrain 2. Three bombers to take off from Tinian (Mariana Islands) together, one being the highly modified B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, which carried the atomic bomb (final assembly to be done after take-off), and two others carrying instruments and photographic equipment. 3. Atomic bomb released approximately 30,000 above Hiroshima; bomb detonated above the city, 43 seconds after the drop; 2/3 of city destroyed, a 4- sq. mile radius flattened to rubble; 100, ,000 people killed. (Aug. 6, 1945) 4. On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki bombed; 50% of the city destroyed; 35,000 people killed

4 Stages of Explosion 1. great blinding flash (70,000 people burned to death) 2. immense atomic blast (flattening city to smoking rubble) a. heat at center of blast 6,000 degrees C (10,832 degrees F = heat of sun s surface) b. fires broke out all over the city 3. mushroom shaped cloud rose high in the sky, scattering radioactive fallout all over the area 4. black rain, drops the size of marbles, carrying radiation to the ground Alternatives to Dropping the Bomb on a Japanese City 1. Negotiate a peace settlement with Japan a. make assurances regarding the safety of the Emperor b. explain clearly unconditional surrender demand c. rejected 1. Japan would never surrender without a show of force 2. Negotiations too time consuming 2. Give Japan accurate information about the bomb before using it (Under secretary of Navy Ralph Bard) a. If Japan knew what we meant by utter annihilation, they might surrender b. rejected atomic bomb top secret 3. Demonstration of atomic bomb on uninhabited island in the Pacific a. rejected 1. What if it was a dud? 2. Japanese might move American POWs into target area 3. Only two bombs left expensive and time consuming to build 4. Land invasion of Japan (Plan already organized, ready to put into operation) a. rejected 1. Element of surprise impossible due to Japan s island geography 2. Japanese would fiercely defend their homeland 3. Estimated loss of one million American casualties Effects of Radiation burns, vomiting and diarrhea, fever (often accompanied by extreme thirst), exhaustion, loss of appetite, failure of wounds to heal (often becoming worse), loss of hair, spot hemorrhages, blood disorders (anemia), and genetic disorders

5 Hiroshima A Noiseless Flash - Vocabulary Volition (2) will, decision, choice Parsonage (2) rectory, church house B-29 / Mr. B (2) type of air raid bomber Superfortresses (2/3) another name for B-29 bombers Abstinence (3) self-restraint Intermittent (7/9) irregular Prefectural (7/9) regional Incendiary (8/9) flammable, fire starting Hedonistic (9/11) self-indulging Proprietor (9/11) owner Incessant (9/11) non-stop, ceaselessly Convivial (10/12) friendly, warm, welcoming Buffeted (11/13) battered, pounded, beaten Xenophobic (11/14) intolerant, racist, chauvinistic Repugnant (12/15) nauseating, foul Terminus (14/17) end of the line Syphilis (15/19) sexually transmitted disease Hiroshima: Identifying Characters Name Occupation What were they doing? / Who were they with? Mr. Tanimoto a tailor s widow / mother of three a German priest By himself on the porch of his private hospital, sitting in his underwear and reading the paper Alone, carrying a blood sample for a Wasserman test down a hospital corridor Miss Toshiko Sasaki

6 Questions: 1. Why did police recently question Mr. Tanimoto? 2. What was the first thing noticed when the bomb went off? 3. What were all the able-bodied girls asked to do? 4. Why were there so many empty rooms in the Japanese hospitals? 5. What did Father Kleinsorge change into for air raid alerts? 6. How many doctors in Sasaki s hospital were uninjured? 7. What had a prominent local Navy man done recently? 8. What large objects were located behind Toshiko s desk? Consider how John Hersey chose to end the first chapter of Hiroshima: There, in the tin factory, in the first moment of the atomic age, a human being was crushed by books. What is Hersey s point? What is the irony in this? What implication does this hold for technology?

7 Hiroshima The Fire - Vocabulary Solicitous (17/23) considerate, caring, concerned Panorama (18/24) view Miasma (18/24) cloud, haze, fog Conflagration (20/27) blaze, inferno Cached (20/27) hoarded, stored Providential (22/29) fortunate, lucky Breviary (22/29) book of daily prayers and lessons Diocese (22/29) district Estuaries (23/30) points where a river meets the sea Vise (23/30) to hold, press or squeeze Incapacitated (24/32) injured, harmed Porte-cochere (25/33) a covered carriage entrance Automaton (26/34) robot, machine Apathetic (27/35) indifferent, unconcerned Brackish (31/41) salty Dilapidation (32/42) disrepair, ruin Joist (33/44) support Paroxysm (34/44) spasm, burst Atavistic (35/46) characteristic of an ancestor (prior generation) Retched (35/46) threw up, heaved Prostate (35/46 exhausted Occidental (36/47) western Tableau (37/48) picture, scene Novitiate (39/51) the quarters occupied by religious novices Razed (40/52) leveled What differences between the Japanese culture and the American culture do you see illustrated by the reactions of the Japanese?

8 Hiroshima: Significant Quotes ~ The Fire Directions: Below are several quotes taken from The Fire. For each, write 2 3 sentences explaining the significance of Hersey s words. 1. He wondered how such extensive damage could have been dealt out of a silent sky. (18/24) 2. Even a theory was comforting that day. (23/31) 3. In a city of two hundred and forty-five thousand, nearly a hundred thousand people had been killed or doomed at one blow; a hundred thousand more were hurt. (25/34) 4. We have lost all our possessions but not our sense of humor. (28/37)

9 5. On some undressed bodies, the burns had made patterns of undershirt straps and suspenders and, on the skin of some women (since white repelled the heat from the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted it to the skin), the shapes of flowers they had had on their kimonos. (29/38) 6. Excuse me for having no burden like yours. (30/40) 7. Mr. Tanimoto could not resist them; he carried the water from the river a mistake, since it was tidal and brackish. (31/41) 8. He began at once to behave like an old man; two months later his hair was white. (34/44)

10 9. Could a Molotov flower basket have done all this? (35/45) 10. It s funny, but things don t matter anymore. Yesterday, my shoes were my most important possessions. Today I don t care. One pair is enough. (36/47) 11. This is no time for books. (36/47) Hiroshima: Details Are Being Investigated 1. What effect did the announcement from the naval launch have on the survivors at the river? 2. What did Mr. Tanimoto have to keep telling himself as he helped people? 3. What did Mr. Tanimoto realize when he saw what was in the river?

11 4. What was the first duty according to the army doctor? 5. What was the woman handing out that made Father Kleinsorge want to cry? 6. What happened at 11:02 am, August 9 th? 7. Why did Mr. Tanimoto hate Miss Tanaka s father? 8. What is a greater moral responsibility to the Japanese than caring for the living? 9. What did the emperor do that Mr. Tanimoto called a wonderful blessing? 10. How did the people react to the news of the surrender? What do you think of this? 11. If Hersey had ended his article at the close of chapter three, what implication would it have made about America s decision to drop the bomb?

12 Hiroshima: Panic Grass and Feverfew 1. What did Father Kleinsorge believe had a talismanic quality? 2. What was happening to Father Kleinsorge s wounds that should have healed? 3. What happened to Mrs. Nakamura when she started to comb her hair? 4. What did they eventually call the strange capricious disease people were coming down with? 5. What covered everything that gave Miss Sasaki the creeps? 6. What new queer symptoms began showing up in many of Dr. Sasaki s patients? 7. What new disaster hit the city that caused further destruction? 8. What problem occurred when using needles in atomic bomb patients? 9. What was the most useful therapy for bomb patients?

13 10. How many stages did Dr. Sasaki identify in radiation sickness? 11. What did symptoms resemble? 12. Who controlled Hiroshima s municipal government? 13. What did Macarthur do regarding Japanese scientific publications? 14. What questions about God did Miss Sasaki ask Father Kleinsorge? 15. What did Miss Sasaki connect to? 16. In Japan, what is even more important than institution? 17. What one feeling did the six survivors share? 18. Who did Dr. Sasaki feel should be brought to trial? 19. What was learned from the permanent shadows left by the flash of the bomb? 20. What are some of the statistics proving how powerful the bomb was?

14 21. What were the conditions of the six main characters a year later? 22. Give some examples of national pride illustrated by the bomb victims. 23. After it was all over, what were peoples reactions to the use of the bomb? Having read Hersey s work, what do you say about the following base statement that we started the unit with? Even though everyone has a different perspective, and no two people will experience an event in the same way, it is still possible to write non-fiction accounts of history.