Grave of the Fireflies
The following is a "reflection paper" (two pages, double spaced) on the animated movie The Grave of the Fireflies which I wrote for my Japanese Culture 260B class.
The Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies is an animated film adaption of Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical novel 火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka). It was adapted by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli in 1988. There are many fascinating elements of the story, however due to the constraints imposed by the length of classroom discussion and the length of this paper, I will only be discussing the symbolism of the firefly and the conflict of the main character.
On an aesthetic level, I am most fascinated by the meaning of the reoccurring symbol of the firefly. It has a long history of positive association in Japanese culture. In the 8th century, it was used as a metaphor for passionate love in the Man'you-shu, a twenty volume anthology of poetry. I am not capable of determining whether the title “Hotoru no Haka” is a reference to the children's song “Hotaru no Hikari,” however given the fact that the main characters are children and that it is sung when bidding farewell - graduation, closing ceremonies, end of the year, etc. - I think the association likely. Fireflies are commonly associated with the human soul and, according to one reference, to the souls of the war dead in particular. The firefly can also been seen as a metaphor for life itself, beautiful in its brevity.
Seita, the older brother, is the main character of the film. The story is, in a very real sense, about the dilemma with which he is faced. Early in the film, his pride is wounded. It is easy to miss this as his anger is somewhat justifiable. After selling off his dead mother's things so that his aunt can buy food, she nags on his unproductiveness. Perhaps this is incorrect, but it seems to me that his aunt is somewhat justified. He isn't doing anything all day but playing with his sister and some time has passed, as indicated by the reference to when he was working at the steelworks. The aunt is also trying to take care of her immediate family, who all seem to be contributing to the “war effort.” Add to these difficult times two more mouths, one of which is capable of work but who is not working and seems to have no interest in working, and we have an aunt who may have been trying to do nothing more than prod Seita into getting off of his butt and finding something to do that would benefit their town or Japan.
His decision to take his little sister (Setsuko) and leave the home of his aunt resolved the attack on his pride. However, this brought about an even more serious conflict, the war between his pride and keeping Setsuko alive. If his pride had of been less, he would have heeded the words of the farmer who told him to return back to his aunt - or to at least place Setsuko in his aunt's care. Instead he chose his pride and Setsuko died. Later, Seita followed Setsuko into death. I can't help but think that his guilt drove him to this fate as his whole purpose for living at that point had been his little sister. Some mentioned that this might be an allegory for WWII, with the Japanese government as Seita and Japan itself as Setsuko. I am sure that this take on the story is intended by the film, but we know today that the US refused Japan's surrender so as to demonstrate the atomic bomb and deter the Soviet Union.
Grave of the Fireflies is a fascinating look into Japan near the end of WWII. I Highly recommend that people watch this movie at least once.
References
Grave of the Fireflies ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies )
Relationships with Nature: The Firefly
( http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa022603a.htm )
The Grave of the Fireflies
Grave of the Fireflies is an animated film adaption of Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical novel 火垂るの墓 (Hotaru no Haka). It was adapted by Isao Takahata and released by Studio Ghibli in 1988. There are many fascinating elements of the story, however due to the constraints imposed by the length of classroom discussion and the length of this paper, I will only be discussing the symbolism of the firefly and the conflict of the main character.
On an aesthetic level, I am most fascinated by the meaning of the reoccurring symbol of the firefly. It has a long history of positive association in Japanese culture. In the 8th century, it was used as a metaphor for passionate love in the Man'you-shu, a twenty volume anthology of poetry. I am not capable of determining whether the title “Hotoru no Haka” is a reference to the children's song “Hotaru no Hikari,” however given the fact that the main characters are children and that it is sung when bidding farewell - graduation, closing ceremonies, end of the year, etc. - I think the association likely. Fireflies are commonly associated with the human soul and, according to one reference, to the souls of the war dead in particular. The firefly can also been seen as a metaphor for life itself, beautiful in its brevity.
Seita, the older brother, is the main character of the film. The story is, in a very real sense, about the dilemma with which he is faced. Early in the film, his pride is wounded. It is easy to miss this as his anger is somewhat justifiable. After selling off his dead mother's things so that his aunt can buy food, she nags on his unproductiveness. Perhaps this is incorrect, but it seems to me that his aunt is somewhat justified. He isn't doing anything all day but playing with his sister and some time has passed, as indicated by the reference to when he was working at the steelworks. The aunt is also trying to take care of her immediate family, who all seem to be contributing to the “war effort.” Add to these difficult times two more mouths, one of which is capable of work but who is not working and seems to have no interest in working, and we have an aunt who may have been trying to do nothing more than prod Seita into getting off of his butt and finding something to do that would benefit their town or Japan.
His decision to take his little sister (Setsuko) and leave the home of his aunt resolved the attack on his pride. However, this brought about an even more serious conflict, the war between his pride and keeping Setsuko alive. If his pride had of been less, he would have heeded the words of the farmer who told him to return back to his aunt - or to at least place Setsuko in his aunt's care. Instead he chose his pride and Setsuko died. Later, Seita followed Setsuko into death. I can't help but think that his guilt drove him to this fate as his whole purpose for living at that point had been his little sister. Some mentioned that this might be an allegory for WWII, with the Japanese government as Seita and Japan itself as Setsuko. I am sure that this take on the story is intended by the film, but we know today that the US refused Japan's surrender so as to demonstrate the atomic bomb and deter the Soviet Union.
Grave of the Fireflies is a fascinating look into Japan near the end of WWII. I Highly recommend that people watch this movie at least once.
References
Grave of the Fireflies ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_of_the_Fireflies )
Relationships with Nature: The Firefly
( http://japanese.about.com/library/weekly/aa022603a.htm )