Journal 7 by Hibba Said

Hibba Said
March 21, 2018
English 2367

Journal 7

Part One:

So far in this book, I feel like Dr. Sasaki in the most interesting charterer thus far. He is a doctor that works for The Red cross Hospital. He is one of the only doctors that left the scene of the bombing unharmed. Dr. Sasaki is hardworking, idealistic, and ambitious. We learn the extent of his selflessness when we learn he is the only physician at the hospital who is unharmed in the explosion, he treats thousands of the dying and wounded people of Hiroshima. He is living in a constant battle of survivors guilt believing that it's unreal he is still alive. I almost get the notion that he feels like it's unfair how he wasn't been in the slightest bit harmed nor scratched. Dr.Sasaki is struck with surprise at  this sudden change in living. Hiroshima went from a congested city to a city of destruction, pain, and sorrow. Due to the bombing, he felt like  he has a duty to fulfill- to save as many people as he could, leadig him to work for more than 19 hours straight. 

"Dr. Sasaki lost all sense of profession and stooped working as a skillful surgeon and a sympathetic man; he became an automaton, mechanically winding, daubing, winding, wiping, daubing, winding" (Hersey 26). 

This quote emphasizes the amount of people Dr. Sasaki had to go through, and been through he is working relentlessly, it was never enough because the people kept pouring into the hospital needing attention. It came to the point where he lost his empathy as a doctor because he was "tugged here and there in his stockinged feet, bewildered by the numbers, staggered by so much raw flesh"

 (Hersey 26). He simply became an 'auto-man' working through this dark time. 

Part Two:

One of my research questions that I came up with reading these chapters is: Can nuclear weapons keep people safe? I discovered a post from the Washington Post titled "Nuclear weapons are the U.S.'s Instruments of Peace". This article goes on to explain the fact that with these big countries having nukes in their possession, the fights between these countries never go further than dialogue. The article gave the example of The Cold War. There was much talk going on and a lot of scare, but it was named the "cold" war because there was no fire exchanged, even though there could have been in a push of a button. Nukes are so powerful- so imagine double the power. 

"Americans may feel guilty for possessing such terrible capacity to destroy life. Despite their distastefulness, however, nuclear weapons probably have saved lives" (Washington Post). 

Once someone mentions the word Nuclear weapons, it is always expected there to be a negative connotation following that word, and if there isn't, one could be getting their self into an argument. Do you think the possession of Nukes can actually keep people safer?

Overview of the aftermath of the nuclear bombing on Hiroshima

Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/nuclear-weapons-are-the-uss-instruments-of-peace/2013/10/04/6f6969ba-2d14-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html?utm_term=.2d7e59889809
Word Count: 484 words