"Hiroshima", on the other hand takes the reader back to 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped. John Hersey takes the stories of six survivors of Hiroshima. All six of the characters in Hiroshima lived very diverse lives, both before and after the bomb, yet all were bound through the horrors they experienced and their inevitable drive to live and overcome. For some, the motivation to live was private. In this short novel John Hersey describes what happened to these six survivors when the bomb burst out and what happened to them 40 years later.
Hersey's evocative account of the tragedy overflows with anguish and pain but leaves the reader with a better understanding of human capabilities and the acquaintance that the drive to survive cannot be enclosed by language or by nationality.
Hiroshima talks about s survival, both of individuals and of the society. The book describes how people respond in crises and what this show of their moral character. How each person chooses to reconstruct their lives and how the city of Hiroshima rebuilds itself after the disaster disclose the priorities of each person and the city as complete. Part of the theme of survival is the representation of the human spirit and the will to keep on living even in the face of so much death and devastation. Survival is also established in how life slowly returns to normal for most, even after they live through harsh ordeal.