Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya

Mei Li Francis 807

    

   

 

The story Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People by Yukio Tsuchiya, tells the story of three elephants, Tonky, John, and Wanly who have to be put to death during World War II. In this children’s picture book, the setting has a deeper meaning then it appears.

    The beginning of the story is depicted as a picturesque spring day, at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan. “The cherry blossoms are in full bloom” and, “Their petals are falling in the soft breeze and sparkling in the sun.” I believe that the cherry blossoms play a large part in the story. Towards the start of the story they represent new life after a long winter. Cherry blossoms are like spring itself, so lively and magnificent, still full of innocence.

    As the story progresses, we are introduced to one of the employees at the zoo. The zoo keeper is, “tenderly polishing” the gravestone of three elephants who died during the war. Immediately we are taken into a time of war. It’s a time of depression and so, the setting becomes bleak. “Bombs were dropped on Tokyo every day and night, like falling rain.” I think the bombs are compared to falling rain because while sometimes rain is needed to rehydrate things like plants, it can also be destructive and falling relentlessly.

    As the elephants begin to starve to death, I personally create an imagery of wilting cherry blossoms. The whole story actually begins to wilt as the people start to lose their hope. “The once big, strong elephants had become a sad shape.” This can be compared to a cherry blossom because in the beginning of the story it was in full bloom, full of life, strong. However towards the middle it begins to wilt, the life quickly leaving these poor blossoms. Their once innocent beauty shrinks to a much wiser sadness and despair.

    Finally, as the elephants die, clinging to their cages, we are taken back to the tearful zoo keeper, still polishing the grave stone. The area where the graves are, once described as, “quiet and peaceful, here, and the sun warms every corner,” doesn’t seem as sunny. Instead it seems lonely, gloomy, and empty. “The cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.” I think that this line represents the death of the elephants. The cherry blossoms only fall when they die. And snow represents winter.  Everything dies in the winter months because the frigid air kills everything.

    Overall I think that the setting in Faithful Elephants plays a huge role in the stories conflict and some of its metaphors, like the cherry blossom resonate deeper than just setting.