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Father Wilhelm Kleinsorge
A widowed tailor, a mother of three, and one of the six central characters of Hiroshima. Mrs. Nakamura instinctively runs to take care of her three small children in the instant after the atomic blast, eventually guiding them to Asano Park, Hiroshima’s designated emergency area during the war. After the bombing, Nakamura struggles to support herself and her children—like so many hibakusha (survivors of the explosion), she’s discriminated against and generally viewed as an outcast. Nevertheless, Nakamura manages to find work in a chemical factory, and she succeeds in raising three happy, successful children.
Hatsuyo Nakamura Quotes in Hiroshima
The Hiroshima quotes below are all either spoken by Hatsuyo Nakamura or refer to Hatsuyo Nakamura. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb, and these six were among the survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died.
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The reflex of a mother set her in motion toward her children. She had taken a single step (the house was 1,350 yards, or three quarters of a mile, from the center of the explosion) when something picked her up and she seemed to fly into the next room-over the raised sleeping platform
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Chapter 4
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She would say, "It was war and we had to expect it." […] Dr. Fujii said approximately the same thing about the use of the bomb to Father Kleinsorge one evening, in German: "Da ist nichts zu machen. There’s nothing to be done about it."
Many citizens of Hiroshima, however, continued to feel a hatred for Americans which nothing could possibly erase. "I see," Dr. Sasaki once said, "that they are holding a trial for war criminals in Tokyo just now. I think they ought to try the men who decided to use the bomb."
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Chapter 5
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The bombing almost seemed a natural disaster—one that it had simply been her bad luck, her fate (which must be accepted), to suffer.
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Hatsuyo Nakamura Quotes in Hiroshima
The Hiroshima quotes below are all either spoken by Hatsuyo Nakamura or refer to Hatsuyo Nakamura. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 1
Quotes
A hundred thousand people were killed by the atomic bomb, and these six were among the survivors. They still wonder why they lived when so many others died.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
The reflex of a mother set her in motion toward her children. She had taken a single step (the house was 1,350 yards, or three quarters of a mile, from the center of the explosion) when something picked her up and she seemed to fly into the next room-over the raised sleeping platform
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4
Quotes
She would say, "It was war and we had to expect it." […] Dr. Fujii said approximately the same thing about the use of the bomb to Father Kleinsorge one evening, in German: "Da ist nichts zu machen. There’s nothing to be done about it."
Many citizens of Hiroshima, however, continued to feel a hatred for Americans which nothing could possibly erase. "I see," Dr. Sasaki once said, "that they are holding a trial for war criminals in Tokyo just now. I think they ought to try the men who decided to use the bomb."
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Chapter 5
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The bombing almost seemed a natural disaster—one that it had simply been her bad luck, her fate (which must be accepted), to suffer.
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