Faithful Elephants Book Response

Reading Response on Faithful Elephants

        “Faithful Elephants” by Yukio Tsuchiyan is a poignant and true short story about an elephant trainer from the Japan in the 1940s. He is forced to watch his favorite elephants starve and he is not allowed to help them. The elephants John, Tonky, and Wanly, had to be killed because the Americans had been bombing Japan and the government was scared that if the zoo was bombed the animals would run free and hurt citizens. This story teaches readers about the desperate times during war, the unwilling yet obedient trainer , and the sad situation the trainer was in which was like a parent who cannot protect their child. This story has a very deep theme: the constant challenge of not always being able to protect your loved ones. In this tale the readers learn a tough lesson that awful things happen during war.  

        In this story the readers can tell how much the trainer loved the elephants. For example, in the beginning of the story the narrator says, “One day, an employee of the zoo, while tenderly polishing the stone, told me a sad story of three elephants buried there.” [p. 1] Also at the end of the story, the narrator says, “He was still patting the tombstone tenderly.” [p. 3 ] I noted the “tender” actions of the trainer. I think this shows the trainer’s tender love for John, Tonky, and Wanly. Another example of the trainer’s love for the Elephants is at the end after he finishes telling the story, “With tears in his eyes, the zookeeper finished the story.” This shows that the emotions were still raw and the trainer hadn’t moved on. All of these actions and small observations show how much the trainer loved the Elephants.

         The trainer loved the elephants incredibly, even though that couldn’t stop the government, that didn’t stop him from trying to save the elephants. For example, when the trainer found out that the elephants had to be killed he suggested that the elephants should be sent to Sendai, a place far north of Tokyo, but the government responded by saying, “what if the bombs fell on Sendai?” [p. 2] Another example is when Tonky and Wanly were about to die from starvation, “The trainer could stand it no longer…He carried food and pails of water to them and threw it at their feet.” [p. 2] all of these actions show the unwillingness of the trainer yet by the end the elephants still die.

In conclusion, all of these observations and actions show the trainer being tested with a hard challenge: not always being able to protect your loved ones. At the end of this story the trainer and the narrator and even the reader learn a tough lesson, which is that awful things happen during war.