Reading Response for "Faithful Elephants"

          The story, "Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War," by Yukio Tsuchiya is about how zoo keepers were forced (by the Army) to kill all their dangerous animals because of the war going on in Japan. It was unsafe to keep them alive at the zoo because at any time, a bomb could drop and dangerous animals would escape and be able to run wild through the city. While reading, "Faithful Elephants," I kept in mind that descriptive details about characters' appearance, words, actions, and the setting might illuminate new meaningful aspects and could also contribute to the conflict/plot. In this story, there were a lot of important, small details. 

          An example of this could be: "One day, an employee of the zoo, while tenderly polishing the stone, told me a sad story of three elephants here." I emphasized on the word 'tenderly' because I think it's pretty important. It shows that the stone matters to the employee and he takes good care of it; it's precious to him. Another quote: "Then it was Tonky's and Wanly's turns to die. These two had gazed at people with loving eyes. They were sweet and gentle-hearted." That particular line was underlined because I think it shows you, the reader, who Tonky and Wanly were. This detail could make the reader establish a more emotional connection to the elephants. (This is because you're thinking to yourself about how great they seemed to be, and then they die! Their death will affect you even more with a connection.) 

          There are still more examples for this! For instance, towards the end of the story there's a statement, "Above them, in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more." To me, this part shows the intensity of the war, which caused the elephants' deaths (in a sense, not directly). This line also interprets hatred and disgust (towards the war) from the employees that had to watch their precious animals die because of the war. There's also one more line, at the very end, and it states, "He was still patting the tombstone tenderly (- still shows the immense care for it) as the cherry blossoms fell on the grave, like snowflakes. The author makes this part sound very serene and it causes me to think that it symbolizes the end of the cruel war and the terrible memories that came along with it. 

          Ultimately, the story, "Faithful Elephants," has many small yet valuable details that could contribute to the conflict/plot and also illuminate new aspects for us. Sometimes, it not always easy to notice how something so small could turn out to be very meaningful and useful!