“Fireflies”, by Yoko Ota uses vivid imagery, which plays a significant role in this short story. These images are depicted that the readers obtain a sense of feeling that as if all of the events and objects described in this short story are actually happening to them. Ota captures and writes about others experiences after the bombing in Hiroshima by gathering her information and observing the aftermath and affects of what has happened to the people. The story focuses more on certain main images such as the site of the burned stonewall, the notion and the metaphor of the burning flame, the victim’s scars and radiation torn body features and the spirits of the dead soldiers.
First, the scene of the Stone Wall comes in multiple times throughout …show more content…
Ota had described to us how after the A-bomb her family was forced to live in a shack. No running water, no floors and no ceilings. Doors didn’t shut properly and you could see the daylight come in through the cracks and ceiling. On a rainy night Ota had came back late, “After I had changed into some dry clothes and sat down at the dilapidated table, my eyes were drawn to a number of slugs creeping around…’Terrible slugs!’ I said” (91). At this time Ota didn’t understand much on why there were so many slugs coming into everyone’s huts. It was thought to because of the rain. Towards the end of the story, Ota takes Mitsuko to the reappearance of the stonewall. As they were heading back Ota saw a firefly flicker. “Here and there the slender fireflies were flashing their lights in the clumps of the grass. I picked one up. ‘Mr. Soldier!’ I said. ‘You must be the ghost of a dead soldier…’ (111). Ota sees to believe that the slugs in her shack and the fireflies, that were flickering, were the spirits of the dead soldiers. She felt as if they would show up every night because they had something to say or couldn’t rest in peace. Ota uses the an imagery to the readers senses to understand the purpose of those slugs and fireflies. It was an expression on how she
First, the scene of the Stone Wall comes in multiple times throughout …show more content…
Ota had described to us how after the A-bomb her family was forced to live in a shack. No running water, no floors and no ceilings. Doors didn’t shut properly and you could see the daylight come in through the cracks and ceiling. On a rainy night Ota had came back late, “After I had changed into some dry clothes and sat down at the dilapidated table, my eyes were drawn to a number of slugs creeping around…’Terrible slugs!’ I said” (91). At this time Ota didn’t understand much on why there were so many slugs coming into everyone’s huts. It was thought to because of the rain. Towards the end of the story, Ota takes Mitsuko to the reappearance of the stonewall. As they were heading back Ota saw a firefly flicker. “Here and there the slender fireflies were flashing their lights in the clumps of the grass. I picked one up. ‘Mr. Soldier!’ I said. ‘You must be the ghost of a dead soldier…’ (111). Ota sees to believe that the slugs in her shack and the fireflies, that were flickering, were the spirits of the dead soldiers. She felt as if they would show up every night because they had something to say or couldn’t rest in peace. Ota uses the an imagery to the readers senses to understand the purpose of those slugs and fireflies. It was an expression on how she