Hiroshima

2 Pages 455 Words

Hiroshima

John Berger’s argument about Hiroshima really affected me when I was reading it. The way he used the real life examples, really touched my emotions. When I was reading about the child trying to put water into her dead mother’s mouth, I could picture it in my head, and I couldn’t believe it. I believe that John was trying to tell us, that in a war, too many people who have nothing to do with the war that are getting hurt. They are just in the wrong places at the wrong time and they are getting dragged into the war when it really has nothing to do with them. When we bombed Hiroshima, it is true that we did stop the war, but it had so many long term effects on the people that lived there. Berger writes, “The latter included long, lingering deaths, radiation sickness, many fatal illnesses which developed later as a result of exposure to the bomb, and tragic genetical effects on generations yet to come”(594). Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki ruined many innocent people’s lives, and I believe that is the point John Berger is trying to get across.
John Berger sounds like he is regretful that the bombing had to affect so many people. He is not scared to tell us what he thinks about it, and that is why he comes off so strongly. By Berger giving us his point of view, he also brings up some controversial issues. Berger writes, “The two bombs dropped on Japan were terrorist actions”(595). Many people in the world saw the bombings as a way to get back at Japan for attacking us at Pear Harbor. Others would agree with Berger, but by him strongly expressing his opinion, he is allowing for people to disagree with him.
When you go to war, you my hurt many more people need to. I think that Berger wants us to imagine someone that we love or care for in the war, and to picture them getting hurt or dying. It is easy to say “let’s go to war” but when there is someone you know that is in the war it is a l...