Student Question
What was the purpose behind the banning of John Hersey's book, "Hiroshima"?
Quick answer:
John Hersey's "Hiroshima" was banned due to the controversy surrounding the atomic bombings of Japan. The book's detailed accounts of the destruction and radiation sickness reignited moral debates about the bombings, which many civilians viewed as immoral. Although American soldiers largely supported the bombings to avoid a costly invasion, the book's revelations led to its temporary banning. Eventually, it was republished, continuing the debate without further bans.
The banning of John Hersey's book Hiroshima was a result of the controversy over the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. With the enormous destruction and the numbers of people killed or sick with radiation sickness, the decision to drop the first bomb and then a second bomb on Nagasaki created a moral outcry from the beginning. Though the majority of American soldiers were glad the bomb was dropped because the cost of an invasion of Japan would be countless lives lost, the civilian population saw the atomic bomb as evil or at least immoral. When the book appeared and the details revealed, the controversy was renewed, and the book banned for a time. Eventually the book was again published and the debate continued, but without the book ban.
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