ShoulderIn the book Hiroshima by John Hersey, six characters were shown as survivors during the Hiroshima bomb in 1945. The highlighted character given was Dr. Masakazu Fuiji. Out of the six characters that were chosen by Hersey, Dr. Fuiji was one of two scientists, but may have been the most affected or hurt out of the characters. He was never constantly stressed about the bomb after it had occurred, and spent a great amount of his time partying and making the most out of his life, which was different than most of the characters that were constantly worried about themselves and those around them.
Dr. Masakazu Fuiji was chosen in the story Hiroshima for his relaxed nature and his ability to help other patients. One reason why Dr. Fuiji was chosen as one of the highlighted characters in this book was his compassion for those who were affected during the initial attack. Dr. Fuiji experienced some initial pains and several injuries to his body; however, he did not let this stop him from helping others. The passage states, “Although Dr. Fuiji’s shoulder was by now terribly painful, he examined the girl’s burns curiously” (34).
With the addition of this shoulder pain, Dr. Fuiji also had a clavicle fracture, with the addition of several burns. Though these were serious injuries, like the other characters in this book, Dr. Fuiji refused to let some injuries get in the way of helping others that were more in need of help. Dr. Fuiji shows his sympathy and empathy for those who were more seriously affected or closer to the bomb than he was as he almost feels obligated to help others become more healthier and better. Being a doctor certainly plays a factor in this, as Dr.
The Review on Hiroshima Book Report Kiyoshi Tanimoto
Hiroshima: Book Report ISSUES Briefly describe the issues that are dealt with in the book. This book was vary informative to me. This book mainly talked about the affects of nuclear weapons. On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. It speaks about how even if you did survive the blast you were so badly injured that you would die soon anyway. It ...
Fuiji is used to taking care of patients and making sure that a person is close to healthy, if not one hundred percent healthy. As a doctor, he also knows how to comfort and empathize for those who are injured. Dr. Fuiji was, by nature, a simple and stress-free person, which translated into his reactions once the initial hits of the Hiroshima bombs ended. After finding out that Dr. Fuiji had no radiation symptoms like the other patients, the reader learns of what his advice is to those who were affected and his own lifestyle. It states, “He enjoyed himself.
He was compassionate toward his patients, but he did not believe in working too hard” (128).
This statement proves how different Dr. Fuiji proved to be compared to the other victims of this attack. He did not show much despair, regret, or anger at the Americans shortly after the bomb and even seemed to have done better and built a better second life from the result of these terrible attacks. Although it is undeniable that Dr. Fuiji still showed empathy for those who were severely affected with radiation or other diseases, he certainly did not take too much out of himself to be worried about others.
In this wide variety of unusual characters, Dr. Fuiji seems to be the one that is the most settled and knows what he wants to do in the future. Dr. Fuiji was chosen as a character in this book for his empathy towards other characters and a simplistic, realist view of moving forward and not dwelling on the past. Despite Dr. Fuiji seeming to be out of place in a book where chaos is in everyone’s lives, his inclusion provided for an interesting role as the facilitator and a true doctor.
