full title · Hiroshima
author · John Hersey
type of work · Journalistic narrative
genre · War account
language · English
time and place written · United States, 1946
date of first publication · August 31, 1946
publisher · The New Yorker magazine; Alfred A.
Knopf
narrator · John Hersey, a journalist
point of view · The narrator speaks in the third person, focusing on
the actions of the six main characters. The narrator describes the
characters’ actions and periodically gives the reader a glimpse
into what they were thinking and feeling, based on his interviews
with them.
tone · Objective and removed; unemotional
tense · Past
setting (time) · August 6, 1945 and the forty
years following
setting (place) · Hiroshima, Japan
protagonists · Mrs. Hatsuyo Nakamura, Dr. Terufumi Sasaki, Father
Wilhelm Kleinsorge, Toshiko Sasaki, Dr. Masakazu Fujii, Reverend
Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto
major conflict · The detonation of the atomic bomb
rising action · The routine wartime actions of the six main characters
in the morning before the bomb drops
climax · The detonation of the atomic bomb, as experienced by
the six main characters
falling action · The six central figures’ recovery from their injuries
and reentry into daily life
themes · Community survival in the face of mass destruction;
Japanese stoicism and personal submission; the unnatural power of
the bomb
motifs · Death; chance; acceptance of life’s capriciousness;
confusion and ignorance
symbols · The lush new greenery; the keloids; water
foreshadowing · The opening of the first chapter tells us what each
character was doing in the instant before the bomb drops; we already
know about the climax—the bomb’s detonation—because the book is a
historical account.
