Faithful Elephants

In the story "Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War" By Yukio Tsuchiya, we read about three elephants who have to be killed in Tokyo because of bombs dropping there. It is clear that symbols are a big part of the book.

 A symbol I found is the cherry blossoms falling. Before and after the zookeeper tells the story, the setting is detailed with the cherry blossoms in full bloom, and it makes you think of the spring. The last sentence says, "...as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes." It is like a symbol of peace given to the elephants. It also relates to when the bombs were dropping. During their lives, bombs fell on them, but after, cherry blossoms are. It shows all of the war and destruction is behind them, and there are no worries for them now. Another symbol were the bombs dropping. The bombs were the reason why the elephants had to die. They could've been shipped to Sendai, but there was the fear that bombs might drop there too. The bombs have a deathly feeling because of that.

There is one quote that I think has a lot of meaning to it. After the elephants die, the zoo keepers become angry about the war. "Above them, in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more. Still clinging to the elephants, the zoo keepers raised their fists to the sky and implored, 'Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop all wars!'" On of the bigger themes in the story is war, and this quote shows everyone's opinion about the war going on. The war caused Tonky, Wanly, and John to all die, and the zoo keepers were in rage because of it. I think it also shows how mad the zoo keepers were and everyone else felt like that too in Japan. It almost was like there would be no hope or happy ending, because after they went to the elephants who died, bombs dropped once again and that just added to the emotions.

I think the story is supposed to be sad all around. From the part where they decide to kill the elephants to the end, it feels all gray and sad. The climax is when the animals have died, and the resolution is when the elephants die. The protagonists are the elephants and the zoo keepers because they want the elephants to be alive and not have to deal with the war. The antagonists are the army and soldiers who are trying to bomb Tokyo.