Night by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima by John Hersey - 661 Words

Often, we find ourselves facing dramatic and even traumatic events in our lives that force us to re-think and redefine ourselves. These extraordinary circumstances test the human limits and push us into making life altering decisions. It is at times like these that the humanity in us, our personalities, either fall apart leaving us nothing but a hollow shell, or transforms into a stronger, evolved form gleaming with compassion and self sacrifice. Night written by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima written by John Hersey portray how every day life might un-expectantly change, how frail life really is, and how these unexpected changes test what is inside us. Both books tell the tale of how lives of civilians were interrupted by the events of World War II, what tragedies these people had to undergo, and how the horrific circumstances of war were sometimes able to bring out the best in ordinary people. In the book Hiroshima the author illustrates this city’s most tragic point in history as well as its residence’s lives before, during, and after the horrific drop of the atomic bomb. The pain of over one hundred thousand lives were compressed and expressed through six different stories told by this reporter. The extreme range of direction their lives take can be seen by the contrasting examples between Miss Toshiko Sasaki and Dr. Masakazu Fuji. Toshiko Sasaki began as a clerk before the bombing happened; she was deeply into her family and even had a fiancà ©. On August 6th of 1945 the bomb