Aisa Radoncic

813

Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People, and War

By: Yukio Tsuchiya

In the story “Faithful Elephants” by Yukio Tsuchiya, is about having to make sacrifices. For example, the zookeepers had to make a sacrifice of the sweetest elephants, John, Tonky, and Wanly, to protect the people of the city. Also, the trainer made a sacrifice to risk his job and possibly go to jail just for these elephants that he considers children. Lastly, the zookeepers had to make a sacrifice taking the easy way out, such as shooting them, because the elephants skin were too rough.

The zookeepers had to make a sacrifice of the elephants to save the people of the city. They did this because the army demanded them that all the animals be put down.  They had to do this because the war was going on between America & Japan and they were afraid that if America would drop a bomb on them and the cages would open and the animals would roam through the streets, which is very dangerous. “What would happen if the bombs hit the zoo?” Said a zookeeper.

The trainer had to almost sacrifice his job and possibly going to jail just to give Tonky and Wanly food and water, who he considers his children.

He did this one day while the elephants were starving and could barely hold themselves up. They looked at their trainer with loving eyes as they attempted to stand up with their shaking bodies and do their Banzai trick, the one where the trainer usually gave them food for before the war. The trainer ran to the food and water shed and threw it into their cages screaming, “Here! Eat your food! Please drink. Drink your water!” Luckily, his manager and co-workers also had a strong love for these elephants also, so while the trainer did this, they pretended not to watch. They all had hope that the war could just end and the elephants could live.

Finally, the zookeepers had to make a sacrifice of not getting to take the easy way out of killing them like shooting them or simply poisoning them because their skin was too rough. For example, they tried to poison them with a large syringe but “the needles broke off with a loud snap, one after another.” So the zookeepers had no other choice but to starve them to death.

As you can see, “Faithful Elephants” is a short story about having to make sacrifices of the elephants ith the examples of having to kill the sweet, innocent elephants for war, sacrificing your job and possibly jail, and lastly, not getting the easy way out and having to watch them starve to death. This short story reminds me of the quote, All the arms we need are for hugging.  ~Author Unknown. It reminds me of this story because it shows that there is no need for war and that we should have peace.