“A Dimly Burning Wick: Memoir From the Ruins of Hiroshima”

By Sadako Teiko Okuda and Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun

AUGUSTA, GA - In a remarkable collection of emotion, Sadako Teiko Okuda (with the editorial and translation assistance of Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun) provides what may be one of the most important books of our time in “A Dimly Burning Wick:  Memoir From the Ruins of Hiroshima.” 

How many of us vividly recall exactly where we were or exactly what we were doing on September 11, 2001?  How many of us know someone who was deeply injured physically, emotionally, or even spiritually as a result of the devastation of those two towers?  Such devastation leaves a mark, a scar beneath the surface inside the people, which can often lead to unforeseen and unexplainable consequence in times to come. 

The people of Hiroshima may know the intensity of such feelings as well as anyone thanks to the devastation of a nuclear warhead 2,000 miles above their city on August 6, 1945.  In this sensitive construction of painful and tragic memory, readers can explore one of the most pivotal moments in history, and in so doing, reconnect with the unforeseen power, devastation, and effect of military endeavors carried out in the name of a nation, cause, or belief that civilian victims had little or no concern with at the time.  In this regard, we learn the other side of the shiny surface image offered in textbooks and glorified movie portrayals.

In a time of war on two separate fronts, it may be appropriate for Americans to remember the price paid by hundreds of thousands of civilians due to weapons of mass destruction wielded in the name of democracy. This work explores how we justify such devastation carried out by a government representing us. 

Built on a dual framework, this work is sectionalized between the personal and the professional elements of discussion. The first section is composed of sickening, amazing, and at times beautiful portraits of humanity suffering in an earth-bound hell.  Most of these accounts capture the experience of children taken from first hand diary entries, which provide an in-depth, in the moment, explication of the heartbreak of the moment, the generosity of strangers attempting to help all in need, and the pain felt beyond the moment of the blast or the triumphant pictures of the Enola Gay.

The second section is a collection of arguments by medical experts, historians, and social scientists that attempt to make sense of the acceptance of this atrocity by the larger democratic culture of the world and America in particular.  In this regard, essays by a variety of authors (including selections from Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Sok-Hon Ham, sociologist Paul Joseph, and historian Ronald Takaki) that attempt to explain the social psychology behind the madness of the moment and the later acceptance of it by larger groups. 

While the 50th Anniversary of this horrific event saw a return of interest, accounts of the Hiroshima bombing are becoming lost in the sands of time, removed from feeling, and as a result, a work like this reminds us of the need for discussion, expression, and any option short of violence available in all cases. 

Facing our own time of warfare, our own media campaigns that demonize those from other regions of the world, and our own obsessional arms races coming into discussion in various debates, it is an important moment in our history, which may be further illuminated by not failing to pay attention to the lessons of “A Dimly Burning Wick.” 

Okuda, Sadako Teiko and Pamela Bea Wilson Vergun.  “A Dimly Burning Wick:  Memoir From the Ruins of Hiroshima.”  Algora Publishing.  2008.  202pp.  $22.95 Paper.  ISBN:  9780875865607.