Essay Questions

Why did the women in Hiroshima and near Hiroshima lose their hair?

The bomb that destroyed Hiroshima was an atomic one. The ones who were in its range were killed immediately but its effect was obvious even years later because many people were affected by the radiations. Some people developed various illnesses, including leukemia and cancer, while other simply lost their hair. Just like many people today who undergo radiation treatment end up losing their hair, many women and men simply woke up with large chunks of their hair missing or falling out without them knowing about what is happening. This has the purpose of showing that the atomic bomb did a lot more damage than just killing the people in the city. It affected the lives of those who survived in many ways, by affecting the environment and by affecting their health.

What does the man want to transmit through the line "You saw nothing in Hiroshima. Nothing.’’?

The woman who talks with the Japanese man is a French actress who went to Japan to play in a movie. When she arrived in Hiroshima, the actress became extremely interested in Hiroshima and in its history. She visited all the historical sites and even the museums presenting the history of the town and the way in which the people were affected by the bomb. This made the French woman feel comfortable claiming she knows everything there is to know about Hiroshima. The man’s words try to make her realize that while she does know some little things about Hiroshima, she does not know the whole truth because only those who went through those things can claim they truly know about what happened.

What may be one of the reasons that the female character is unable to feel anything for her male counterpart?

The French actress is presented as being cold and keeping herself separated from the Japanese man who loves her. While the Japanese man claims he will do anything for her and that a life without her would be an unbearable one, the woman remains unaffected. It is implied that one of the possible reasons why the actress remains unaffected is because she suffered some form of traumatic event while in Europe during the war. It is possible that she suffered hunger, beatings, or that she was sexually assaulted and this made her incapable of feeling anything for a male. While it is not clear what happened, the idea transmitted is that the actress suffered some form of traumatic event that changed her.