John Hersey was born in 1914 in Tijin, China and lived a simple and mostly quiet life. While Hersey grew up, he worked for Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel prize for literature, as a apprentice. Hersey also worked as a reporter for Henry Luce who founded “Time-Life” a company which produced various forms of media until it was bought out by Time in 2006. Later on in Hersey’s life he would create five novels about World War 2, two of them were non-fiction and the other three were heavily researched novels such as; “A Bell for Adano,” “The Wall,” and his most notable, “Hiroshima.” While Hersey taught at Yale from 1965 to 1984, he wrote an article titled “The Legend on the License” in 1980 which stressed his worries of non-fiction authors blurring the line between fact and fiction and even said in the article “The writer must not invent.” Unfortunately, Hersey would die in Key West, Florida in 1993 at the age of 73 due to health complications regarding cancer.

John Hersey’s major significance came mainly from his book titled “Hiroshima” which exposed and presented the aftermath of Hiroshima following the dropping of the atomic bomb. In May of 1946, Hersey was sent to interview survivors of the blast for three weeks until coming home to report the effects on the survivors to the American populous. His presentation of the uncensored material and personal accounts of survivors gave insight to the human cost of the atomic bomb.

John Hersey’s major work titled “Hiroshima” allowed for a vast amount of Americans to get a first hand account of what happened following the denotation of the atomic bomb. “Hiroshima” follows the story of six survivors Hersey personally met with and interviewed while in Hiroshima for three weeks. Hersey also describes the various real deaths caused by radiation sickness following the atomic bomb’s blast. “He felt a sudden pressure, and then splinters and pieces of board and fragments of tile fell on him. He heard no roar.” (Hersey 10). This quote greatly summarizes not only the novel but the entire catastrophe, many died not screaming, but silent.

After researching John Hersey’s life and works, I personally think that he was an inspiring author who achieved much during his life. I believe that his main goals were to provide accurate information to the public despite the risks or consequences was nobel. Therefore, I think that we should strive for goals similar to John Hersey, which would be to pursue the truth and find answers.

Honesty is necessary because it allows for people to share accurate truths and information without a bias or underlying agenda. Honesty is also important since it allows for objective and truthful facts which are objectively right.