The Aftermath Summary and Analysis

Chapter 5, unlike previous chapters, is divided into six distinct named segments that are tightly focused on the post-war history of the six principle individuals considered earlier in the text. The chapter was written about four decades after the preceding chapters and bears subtle but noticeable stylistic differences. Of course, some information presented in each section is necessarily applicable to a larger sphere than a single individual is.

In Japanese society, the atomic detonation survivors were viewed with suspicion. They were often discriminated against because employers considered them unreliable workers due to frequent medical problems. Many also considered them somehow contaminated and feared they might be contagious. Survivors were largely ignored by the government and their medical needs and personal economies were in a state of limbo. In 1954 opinions began to change, however, and by 1957 new laws had been enacted...