Faithful Elephants

            In Faithful Elephants, a tragic short story by Yukio Tsuchiya, it talks about how the zookeepers in Ueno Zoo, in Japan, are forced to kill all the animals in the zoo because of the war going on. It is finally time for the three elephants, John, Tonky and Wanly, to be executed from the zoo. The setting in the short story shows what might occur next, with contracting and gloomy settings.

            In the very beginning it takes place in a zoo, where a cherry blossoms are at full bloom, and the petals are falling on the soft breeze and warm sun. This description gives off a very warm and peaceful atmosphere. It feels like something happy, or will happen, but the contrast to that is there are tombstones on the other side of the zoo, making it gloomy and foreshadowing something bad is going to happen. “Not far from the cheerful square, there stands a tombstone. Not many notice this monument for the animals that have died at the Ueno Zoo.” This contrasts from the warm and happy vibe going on in the beginning. But at the same time it still shows happiness from the sun warming every corner.

            After the untroubled introduction, they move on to a more heartbreaking occurrence. A zookeeper describes how Japan is being bombed like rain, day and night. Which causes the next act to be heartbreaking and disturbing. They try to poison John first, with the potatoes, because he loves potatoes. In the end, they decided to starve John because he was smart enough to throw away the poisoned potatoes and eat the healthy one. The setting helps to transition to a more disturbing scene and get a scene of what might happen next.

            In the end of the story, they wrap it up with going back to the beginning setting. It gives off the same tranquility feeling, like they’re saying the elephants are still there. The zookeeper describes the bright blue sky has floating white clouds. They’re describing the tears the elephants and the employees of the zoo have produced from the tragic event that have occurred.

            In conclusion, the setting links to all the feelings that happened in that scene, making whether it gives it a gloomy or happy feeling.  It can contrast to the setting before it or ahead of it, it is the author’s choice to create his story.