13.The First Atom Bomb (18)

1. Who was Marcel Junod?

Ans:- Marcel Junod lived from 1904 to 1961. He was the first foreign doctor to reach Hiroshima after the atom bomb attack on 9th August 1945. He was French and member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He had deep sympathy for the casualties. He had bitter hatred for the brutal wars and had great anxiety over the emergence of the deadly modern weapons.

2. From whom and how did Junod got news about the Hiroshima incident?

Ans:- Junod got verbal reports about the bombing of Hiroshima from one of the ICRC delegates named Fritz Blifinger, through a telegram. It had huge details of the Hiroshima disaster but the details were in disjointed forms.

3. How did Junod find Hiroshima?

Ans:- Marcel Junod arrived in Hiroshima from ICRC Tokyo and described a city which had nothing but silence and desolation. He came to know that thousands of human beings died like flies. Others lay writhing wounds and burns. The hospitals were destroyed and the makeshift hospitals were overcrowded with people suffering from severe injuries due to burns and radiation. The few surviving doctors and nurses were also facing new types of irrecoverable wounds. Apart from the human beings, the atom bomb had also left the fauna and flora in devastated condition. The prosperous manufacturing city of Hiroshima had become nearly a graveyard for humans and animals. The damages came from blast, fire and radiation of the bomb.

4. What is the theme addressed by Junod in the essay?

Ans:- The main theme underlying in Marcel Junod's essay 'The first Atom Bomb' is about the great dangers of atom bombs and deadly weapons. It is about the human cost of nuclear weapons. It is a critical and emotional insight into the after-effects of warfare.

     World War II was an awful war. The casualties of the war were horrible and beyond belief. Nations had started developing means of killing their enemies which were beyond convention. These means damaged the victims for life both physically and psychologically. The survived ones were left crippled with effects of radiation from the nuclear bombs. 

5. What was Manhattan Project?

Ans:- The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking and code name for the American-led effort to develop a functional atomic weapon during World War II. The Project was started in response to the fears that German scientists had been working on a weapon using nuclear technology since the 1930s. The Project produced the first nuclear weapons with the support of the UK and Canada. Manhattan is a district in the USA.

6. Why did Junod go to Hiroshima?

Ans:- Junod went to Hiroshima to know the effects of the Atomic Bomb. He wanted to treat the victims as he was a doctor.. His immediate task was to visit Allied prisoners of war held in Japan.

7. What was the "Little Boy"?

Ans:- "Little Boy" was the codename for the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 during the World War II. It was the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. It was the second man-made nuclear explosion in history after the Trinity test.

8. Did the effects of the nuclear bomb blast in Hiroshima circulate immediately?

Ans:- No, in truth for nearly three weeks the news about the effects of the Hiroshima blast did not circulate properly. The city filled with life now got obliterated.

9. How was the facilities in the hospital?

Ans:- Junod describes the available hospital as with no water, no kitchen and no proper sanitation facilities. The doctor comes from outside everyday. The medical care was very rudimentary or basic. There was no proper cotton available. Most of the time the wounds of the injured was uncovered and flies would be sitting on them. The patients suffered from delayed effects of radioactivity. There were multiple hemorrhages which needed blood transfusions. But there were no blood donors. The condition of the hospital was incredibly pathetic and filthy.

10. How does the essay end?

Ans:- General Mackert thanks Junod for the service he did for each surviving victim from the Hiroshima bomb blast. He ends by saying that human value and human dignity got degraded or finished because of such wars.

11. Till which period of time did the Modern period is said to have continued? 

Ans:- The end of the Second World War is considered to have been the end of the Modern Age or Modernism in life and literature. 

12. When did the Post-Modern Age started? 

Ans:- The end of Second World War in 1945 is considered to be the beginning of the Post-Modern Age.

13. What was the date of the dropping of the atom bomb in Hiroshima? 

Ans:- The first nuclear atom bomb coded as 'Little Boy' was dropped in Hiroshima on 6th August 1945.

14. What is Post-Modernism? 

Ans:- Post-Modernism is that thought and practice in life and literature which no more believes in fixed meanings.  To it,  the world has been created as per their conveniences. According to post-modernists the meanings around them is all relative. The effects of the two World Wars have been hugely responsible for the creation of Post-Modern way of thinking and realizing the diverse and multiple truths around.

15. As per your views what causes or creates wars? 

Ans:- The expantionist policies, colonial objectives, creating markets for selling weapons, sense of revenge and the male ego create wars. 

16. At what time was the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima? 

Ans:- The atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima after 7.31 in the morning. 

17. From which work was the First Atom Bomb extracted? 

Ans:- The First Atom Bomb was extracted from the Journal written by ICRC's Dr. Marcel Junod .

18. How many staff did the hospital in Hiroshima had? 

Ans:- The hospital in Hiroshima had two hundred beds, eight doctors and twenty nurses.