2nd reading response

In the short story "Faithful Elephants" by Yukio Tsuchiya, the elephants are a symbol of hope, but also a symbol of hopelessness. The people were so afraid of being hopeful because of the ongoing war, they had already let the hope die before they realized they were yearning for it. In the story, the elephants symbolized hopelessness because, in the beginning of the zookeepers tragic tale, during the midst of World War Two, the zoo is ordered by the Army to euthanize all dangerous animals (leopards, lions, tigers, bears, large snakes and elephants), because if the zoo was bombed these animals would escape and threaten the city. This scene hints the war has become too severe for the Ueno Zoo to fulfill its purpose, protecting and sheltering the animals. Later in the story we encounter a zookeeper who cares for the elephants "..as if they were his own children.." After killing off the rest of the zoo's creatures, they finally come down to the beloved elephants Tonky and Wanly. The zookeepers are heartbroken to have to kill these gentle creatures. They contemplate sending them to a zoo in Sendai, but are too frightened by the Army's warning. This symbolizes the people's fear to be hopeful, the elephants brought people hope and the fear of keeping the elephants alive ultimately destroys the hope they have left. And after the elephants die and the zookeepers are mourning their loss (both internally and externally), the bombs begin falling, "Above them, in the bright blue sly, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more." When the zookeepers revolt against the war, they are also yearning for the hope they had lost. In the story, the elephants symbolized hope because, even after the zookeeper, in a fit of despair, gives Tonky and Wanly food and water after being specifically told not to. The rest of the zookeepers as well as the director ignore the mishap and continue to wish for the elephants to survive and the war would end, "No one was supposed to give them any water. But everyone was hoping and praying that if the elephants could survive one more day, the war might be over and the elephants would be saved." But two weeks later, Tonky and Wanly finally passed away. After the zookeepers found them dead in their cages and they wept for the lost elephants. After the zookeepers discovered the elephants enemy planes began bombing the city, they began to revolt, "Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop all wars!" The elephants deaths made the zookeepers realize war is immoral, but the event also symbolized their hopelessness because they were hoping to keep the elephants alive until the war was over, but they were too afraid to do so. While the elephants were alive, the people still had hope that the war would end. In conclusion, the elephants were a symbol of hope and hopelessness for the people of the Ueno Zoo. The Army ordered them to kill the elephants because they would escape during the event of the zoo being attacked and run amok in the streets. The people complied only because they were afraid of the elephants overpowering them, or afraid of the hope overpowering them.