Journal Eight, Johana Langova

      The first thing that I want to take away from the reading of Hiroshima is that atomic bombs are not the solution and ought to be avoided at all costs possible. I would also take away the importance of family, friends and loved ones and the importance of being grateful for what you have every single day, because in a couple seconds it could be taken away from you and destroyed into something unrecognizable. . I would also like to remember the stories within Hiroshima, and not just the summary of the event itself. Many times we know about events, and we recognize their importance, but we don't get to truly understand them. We can only do so from learning about the individual stories with in those events, so that we can see just how much they affected people and how they changed lives. That's the only way we'll truly understand their importance and impact.
       The two characters that I will most definitely hold onto will be Mr.Tanimoto and Mrs.Nakamura. They were both extremely important, with large, caring hearts and they survived the chaos of the atomic bombing without becoming bitter. I don't want to forget how Mr.Tanimoto ran through the city, apologizing to everyone he saw that he didn't have to carry their burden. That is honestly the ultimate act of selflessness, and truly admirable. I also think Mrs.Nakamura is an intriguing character, because of how she took care of her children through any means- even if she was tired and though she had to take many breaks, she kept going on. That is one of the epitomes of a mothers love. 
       I don't want to forget how I reacted to the book emotionally,  I am a very empathetic person and so the book really made an impact on me. Though it wasn't emotionally written, it was so simple to gain the emotion and imagine what everyone was feeling when they were living their lives and surviving. I think that if I were to forget how I reacted emotionally to the book, then the events surrounding the atomic bombings would just become another story that didn't effect me personally and thus isn't relevant.
       On page 152, the last sentence of the book, " His memory, like the world's was getting spotty." I chose this one, because of how much impact it carries with it. It is very important to understand the importance of memory and how important it is to remember certain events, especially ones with such importance to humanity as Hiroshima. On page 134, " Then came a sad ending to this hibakusha's story. His family quarreled over his property, and  a mother sued a son," I think this expert is important, because it shows how simple it is to forget that the family you now have could be gone in seconds and how easy it is to forgo love over money and estate. You'd think that since they had something that drastic and horrid happen to their family, they would be closer, but in reality they didn't learn how to cherish love from their experience.  The last passage that I thought was important was on page 118, "The fathers and brothers of the Nagatsuka Novitiate noticed over the years that there were almost always fresh flowers at the grave," this spoke to me, because I felt like this was the most normal thing that happened in the book, and the most lovely. I found the relationship between Dr.Takakura and Yoshiki-san to be complex and amazing, and I just really liked it to be honest, because it seemed so normal and pure.
       I think we can definitely learn that it's important to not only know about important events in our history, but to actually understand them so that we don't make the same mistakes like our ancestors. I think that is the one thing we could actually learn to do from this book. This book might educate and inspire us to not take things for granted and to work for what we want, and to appreciate our world much more, instead of just constantly whining about how much it sucks- when in reality it could be a lot worse.