Feature Analysis

My first major assignment for this class was to write a feature analysis on a piece of literary journalism. Unfortunately, I did my assignment on a piece that wasn't included in the selections provided by our tutor. I did my analysis on Hiroshima by Jon Hersey. You can find a short excerpt here. 


We went over the piece in class, and I really enjoyed it. The way the author uses time and pacing to convey each experience made for engaging reading. I won't include my entire analysis here, but here's (what I think) are the better parts: 

In terms of literary journalism, Hersey’s Hiroshima is often credited as being one of the first examples of ‘new’ or ‘literary’ journalism. The story takes on a novel-style quality, while still keeping the reader alert to the fact that what they are reading is, in fact, non-fiction. As literary journalism progressed, authors became more likely to insert themselves into their stories, and write about the mundane, frivolous and serious. Hersey set a high standard for new journalism, and his detached style of writing is perfectly suited to the gravity of the event he was reporting on. In addition, as he was not present during the bombing, it would have come across as self-indulgent to include himself in the character stories, and would have certainly detracted from the stories themselves.

One of the strongest features of the chapter ‘A Noiseless Flash’ in the book Hiroshima is the definite sense of time, place and distance with every character in comparison to the bomb explosion. Due to this repetition of time and distance, it becomes almost easier to remember the character by what they were doing and where they were, rather than their name. The author notes for each character the exact distance they were from the bomb explosion. It is so memorable because rather than adding it at the beginning, or as an afterthought, it is consistently mentioned in brackets at the same time as the characters react to the flash of light from the exploding bomb. This gives depth and a relationship between characters who otherwise (aside from surviving the atomic bomb) had none. You can easily visualise the characters experiencing the blast and flash of light like dominoes. The author starts out by telling the story of the character furthest away – Mr. Kiyoshi Tanimoto – and finishes with Toshiko Sasaki, who was only 1600 yards from the centre. However, before going into the individual stories of each character, the author begins with an introduction that briefly describes the characters, going from the closest to the bomb to the furthest. This character development lets the reader know the order of the survivors in a quick-fire fashion – much like the bomb he is writing about. Then, the story telling begins starting from the outside and works it’s way back to the centre.  This style of writing, which follows the same pattern for each character strengthens the story in that there is a distinctive flow and rhythm to every individual story. Hersey’s method of cutting off the story immediately after the atomic bomb exploded feels abrupt and leaves the reader wanting to continue the story.

If each of these stories had been written as a news article, or even a feature article, they would not have had the same effect. By writing a detached, non-fiction novel, Hersey brought a terrible, albeit fascinating, story with excellent reporting into the open, and simultaneously introduced the world to literary journalism.

 I think Hiroshima is an example of fantastic writing, and I'm looking forward to reading the whole thing (buy it here).