Faithful Elephants

Josef Reuther

"Faithful Elephants"

     The story "Faithful Elephants" by Yukio Tsuchiya shows how in wars not only the soldiers on the front lines who are fighting are being effected, but also many innocent civilians and animals. 

      One piece of evidence that corroborates this war theme is that as bombs fell on Tokyo during World War II it became an ever pressing issue that bombs could fall on the zoo. "By command of the Army, all the lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and big snakes were poisoned to death." If any of these animals had escaped the zoo and gotten free in the city, it could have been catastrophic for the people of Tokyo. So because of the war, so many animals who already lived miserable lives in captivity were executed.

       Another piece of evidence that substantiates this theme is that the zookeepers especially the elephant trainer working at the Ueno Zoo who dearly loved these animals "as if they were his own children," were forced to kill the elephants against their will and despite their love and devotion to them."Seeing his beloved elephants dying this way, the elephant trainer felt as if his heart would break." As can clearly be concluded innocent civilians who aren't even involved in warfare are affected by it and must cruelly suffer.

       Tons of people are affected by wars everyday and might have lost loved ones or relatives. It is sometimes believed that the soldiers fighting the battles are the only ones influenced by the warfare, but in reality many more suffer under it as the zookeepers at the Ueno zoo did during World War II.

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."  ~Mahatma Gandhi