“The Scar”, by Kildare Dobbs, is a moving, emotional account of the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. The author creates interest as well as suspense by using two storylines. One follows the experiences of a 15 year old Japanese girl, Emiko. The other, in great contrast, follows the story of an American co-pilot, Captain Robert Lewis, who was aboard the Enola Gay, a US Air Force B-29, that carried the first operational atom bomb. Throughout the narrative, the author switches back and forth between these two accounts which creates situational irony as the reader experiences both sides of the story, however, the two characters remain unaware of each other.
Throughout this narrative, there are many obvious differences. Without some close inspection, the reader might think that the only thing these two characters have in common is the fact that their personal accounts are written about the same event. Although it is true that both the story lines are very different, if looked at closely, there are some …show more content…
These differences occur primarily because the two plots are told from opposite sides and experiences of the same horrific story. This is most easily observed in the aftermath of the bomb. We experience this historic event through the eyes of Captain Lewis and the other Americans from the Enola Grey, as “the strangers from North America looked down at their handiwork. ‘There, in front of our eyes,’ wrote Lewis, ‘was without a doubt the greatest explosion man had ever witnessed.’” Meanwhile, Emiko was right in the middle of all the destruction and death that the “handiwork” of the Americans had caused. The experiences of these two characters could not be more different or opposite. Paying close attention to similarities and differences in a story enables the reader to better observe and experience what is going on in a
Throughout this narrative, there are many obvious differences. Without some close inspection, the reader might think that the only thing these two characters have in common is the fact that their personal accounts are written about the same event. Although it is true that both the story lines are very different, if looked at closely, there are some …show more content…
These differences occur primarily because the two plots are told from opposite sides and experiences of the same horrific story. This is most easily observed in the aftermath of the bomb. We experience this historic event through the eyes of Captain Lewis and the other Americans from the Enola Grey, as “the strangers from North America looked down at their handiwork. ‘There, in front of our eyes,’ wrote Lewis, ‘was without a doubt the greatest explosion man had ever witnessed.’” Meanwhile, Emiko was right in the middle of all the destruction and death that the “handiwork” of the Americans had caused. The experiences of these two characters could not be more different or opposite. Paying close attention to similarities and differences in a story enables the reader to better observe and experience what is going on in a