Hiroshima

This illustrates a common element in the experience of the six characters during the bombing. They all noticed the incredibly bright light more than any noise. The flash creates a unifying thread in the six stories, which begin separately with different people in different locations. It also represents the idea of nuclear power. When Hersey compares the flash to a “sheet of sun” (5), he hints at harnessing the universe’s power and energy in the service of destruction. The flash of light might also symbolize heaven. Two of the six characters are Christian clergymen, and the Christian view of heaven is often associated with light. When the bomb hit, tens of thousands of people were killed instantly; the flash of light could be seen as their going to the afterlife.

Vomiting is a motif that hints at the nature of the weapon used against Hiroshima. Dr. Sasaki works feverishly to aid the thousands of bomb victims streaming into the Red Cross Hospital. Hersey writes: “Many people were vomiting” (25). Later, Rev. Tanimoto sees people leaving the city center who were also vomiting. And at Asano Park, Mrs. Nakamura and her children are nauseous and vomiting.

Conventional bombing results in burns, lacerations, broken bones, and the like, all of which the survivors in Hiroshima also had.