Faithful Elephants

In the story “Faithful Elephants,” by Yukio Tsuchiya, it tells the tragic story of three elephants at the Ueno Zoo, who need to be killed because the Army believe that the bombs being dropped in Tokyo will affect the animals at the zoo. This short story teaches readers that war affects more then just the soldiers on the battlefield.

            The war affects animals in an obvious way. In the story, it says, “Therefore by command of the Army, all the lions, tigers, leopards, bears, and big snakes were poisoned to death.” The army forced the zoo to kill these animals cause they thought the cages would break if a bomb it the zoo, and the animals would escape and run wild. These animals were being killed because of the war progressing around them, and mainly the bombs being dropped. Also, later in the text, they have to kill the three elephants. The text reads, “over two weeks later, Tonky and Wonly we’re dead.” The zoo (by force of the army) had to kill these animals, but they only way they could was by starving them, which is like torture.

            The war didn’t just effect the elephants in the physical way, but it also affected the zookeepers, but in a more emotional sense.            The zookeepers loved the animals they worked with at the zoo, but they had to, by force or a higher rank, kill them. In the passage it says, “the zookeepers wanted so much to keep Tonky and Wanly alive that they thought of sending them to the zoo in Sendai, far north of Tokyo.” The zookeepers adored these animals so much, and they didn’t want to have to say goodbye. Also the zookeepers had to watch them die, in fact, they had to be the ones to kill them. They must have been devastated. For example, after Tonky and Wanly got up all their last strength to perform a trick for their trainer the text says, “the trainer could stand it no longer, ‘Oh Tonky! Oh Wanly!’ he wailed and dashed to the food shed.” Seeing the elephants suffer hurt the trainer emotionally. The other zookeepers say he trainer feeding the dying elephants and didn’t say anything. They too felt bad.

            As you can see, war has a greater impact on the life around it. “Faithful Elephants” forces the reader to comprehend that war goes beyond the battlefield, and an affect more than just the soldiers being killed.

A Fault in Our Stars: Summer Reading

In the book "A Fault in Our Stars" by John Green, he writes about a romance between a girl, Hazel, and a boy, Augustus. But this isn't just any teenage romance, for both are suffering through cancer. The main character, Hazel, really changes throughout the book. In the beginning she is very negative, towards the middle she is having feelings about love which is making her happier, and in the end she is upset but still more positive from the beginning of the book.

In the beginning if the book Hazel is very negative. She doesn't really have any positive feelings up until she meets Augustus. But before that she thinks everything is a side effect to dying. She says, "Whenever you read a cancer booklet or website or whatever, they always list depression among the side effects of cancer. But in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is a side effect of dying." It seems as if all Hazel thinks about is death. Also she said, "I didn't tell him that the diagnosis came three months after I got my first period. Like: Congratulations! You're a woman. Now die." Hazel is basically adding something negative to something that is already upsetting. 

Towards the middle of the book Hazel starts having feelings of love towards Augustus. A little before, but mainly while, her and Gus are in New Amsterdam, she starts developing these feelings. For example Hazel says, “But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.” Hazel loves Gus. Because Gus makes her happy, which since her cancer, she hadn’t had a lot of. She loves him for that reason. Also, they were talking about how their friend Isaac and his girlfriend always say always, something that shows there love and how it will be always, and Augustus said to Hazel, “Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always.” So not only does Hazel start to love Gus, but he starts to love her. This is a big turning point for Hazel because something is her life finally makes her happy.

At the end of the book, Hazel even thought she upset is still more positive than the beginning. In Augustus’s house his parents put up quotes. One of them is “Without pain we know no joy.” I think this quote really describes the least part of the book. Hazel was really happy with Augustus, but him dying gives her pain, which will help her have joy because before Gus died, and even before she met Gus, she wasn’t very happy. But now after she has experience severe pain by watching her loved one die, I think she can now have a better life. Although she will always be upset, she will one day get over it. 

As you can see, the change that Hazel when through n the book, was mainly caused by Gus and her love for him.