“Faithful Elephants” Reading Response

Lulu Tenney 807

“Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People, and War” by Yukio Tsuchiya is about a war in Japan that forced the zookeepers at the Ueno Zoo to starve three loved elephants: John, Tonky, and Wanly to death, so that if bombs were dropped on the zoo, the elephants wouldn’t escape and run wild in the streets. I believe that the cherry blossoms represent the different stages of the war.

The cherry blossoms are first mentioned in the first line, “the cherry blossoms are in full bloom at the Ueno Zoo. Their petals are falling in the soft breeze and sparkling in the sun.” This line starts the story, so it shows us right from the beginning, that the cherry blossoms are an important part of the story. The cherry blossoms are first mentioned being “in full bloom” which shows the start of the war because the cherry blossoms are fresh. The story is beginning, the cherry blossoms are just blooming, and the war is just starting.

 Although the cherry blossoms aren’t specifically mentioned in the middle part of the book, another metaphor is introduced that is similar to the feeling of the cherry blossoms. It says, “Bombs were dropped on Tokyo everyday and night, like falling rain.” This comparison of bombs and rain are similar to the different comparisons to the cherry blossoms. This line shows the readers the middle of the war, or the climax of the story. This line also shows how devastating the war is and foreshadows that soon, something big will happen due to the war.

The third time the cherry blossoms are mentioned, it says, “He was still patting the tombstone tenderly as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.” This is the last line, and it compares the cherry blossoms to snowflakes, which represents the end of the war and the story. Also, the snowflakes represent the death of the elephants and the sadness of the zookeepers.

The first and last line of the story connect to each other. In the first line “the petals are falling in the soft breeze and sparkling in the sun” and the last line “the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes.” These lines show the beginning and end of the war and story. The images of cherry blossoms and rain reflect the idea of war, the passing of time, and the sadness of loss.