Choose 3-5 passages in the book not quoted in this guide that juxtapose Hersey’s straightforward, objective telling with the horror or intensity of the information related. What was your reaction when you read these? How might each passage have been written more melodramatically and why do you think Hersey chose not to do so?

What role does Japanese culture play in the reactions, thoughts, and responses to the dropping of the nuclear bomb? Find examples from the text to support your ideas.

In the original 1946 edition of the book, Chapter 4 was the final chapter. How does that ending complement the first three chapters? What is the relationship between these first chapters and the fourth? What do you think Hersey is attempting to do in what originally was the final chapter?