Hersey names the fourth chapter "Panic Grass and Feverfew" after the names of weeds growing in Hiroshima. Feverfew literally means, "to drive away the fever." Because this chapter describes the radiation sickness and the result of the bomb's intense heat damage, perhaps Hersey chose this title to show the desire of the city's survivors to drive away the intense heat and the fever associated with their radiation sickness.
The city of Hiroshima is described in bits and pieces: first by the personal thoughts of the survivors and then by the more objective statisticians. Father Kleinsorge is becoming accustomed to the four square miles of "reddish brown scar" that is Hiroshima. Hersey provides imagery here that evokes from the reader an understanding of the swiftness of death. He describes signs with inquiries from family members about surviving relatives that have been crudely erected on ash piles. The macabre succession of stationary cars and bicycles on the street is a vivid image reminding the reader that in the midst of life, people simply vanished. Miss Sasaki, being transferred from one place to another, is "horrified and amazed" by the city she knew so well. The government must deal on a practical level with the lack of electricity and clean water and begin making decisions about how to house and feed the survivors. A Planning Conference is called to figure out what to do with the debris that was Hiroshima and decisions must be made about what to place over this burnt piece of earth. All life as the people of Hiroshima have known it has changed forever.
Because Hersey uses his factual, journalistic style, the reader is simply shown the effects of the bombing on the six survivors. Hersey produces a profound reaction in the reader because he does not sensationalize or dramatize.
