Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsuchiya

Have you ever experienced the affects of war? Probably not, but war doesn't only affect the soldiers fighting in the war, it can affect other people. The Short story “Faithful Elephants” was about animals in Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, Japan that had to be put to death because the threat of bomb hitting the cages and letting the animals loose. This caused many concerns because if the animals were loose they would run wild through the city. Because of this threat the animals in the zoo were put down, even the Faithful Elephants. In the story a theme that constantly appeared in the story was, the affects of war doesn't only affect the soldiers.

 The theme that war doesn't only affect the soldiers is evident in the text “Faithful Elephants.”For example, the war in Japan didn't only affect the soldiers it affect the animals in the Zoo. In the text it says “What if bombs hit the Zoo? And the cages were broken and dangerous  animals escaped to run wild. Therefore by command of the Army all of the lions, tiger, leopards, and bears and big snakes were poisoned to death.”  Another example of how the war affected the animals, was when the trainers had to kill John the Elephant. “By and by, it came for the three elephants to be killed. They began with John – they mixed the poisoned potatoes with the good ones when it time to feed him. –When this didn’t work the keepers reluctantly decided to starve him to death. Poor John died seventeen days later.” This shows how the war affected the animals in the Ueno Zoo.

  Another way how the theme is present in the text is the war affected the trainers. For example, since because of the war the animals had to be killed the trainers had to watch them die. In the text it says, “Seeing his beloved Elephants this way, the trainer felt as if his heart would break.” Another example of how the war affected trainers was even though years had passed the war that killed the three faithful elephants still touched the Zoo keeper. “With tears in his eyes the zoo keeper finished his story. ‘These three elephants John, Tonky and Wanly – are now resting peacefully under this monument’.” This shows how the war took a toll on the trainers even many years after the elephants had died.

 All in all, the short story “Faithful Elephants” by Yukio Tsuchiya demonstrates how the destructiveness of war can affect other people not just the soldiers. The author Yukio Tsuchiya inspires us to think like Aristotle. “It is not important to win a war. It is more important to organize peace.” And if there was more peace in the world like Aristotle suggested and the wars were stopped as the zoo keeper suggested, the world would be a better place