Themes reveal a why a story was written and the moral hidden in the story. The theme of "Faithful Elephants", a short story by Yukio Tsuchiya, is to never lose hope. As the title says "Faithful Elephants", the elephants never lost hope and stayed faithful to the very end. 
    World War II required killing every animal in the Ueno Zoo in case a bomb was dropped on it, freeing all the dangerous animals. The last 2 of the 3 elephants were being starved to death. Knowing that their trainer rewards them for doing good jobs in performing, the 2 elephants use the last if their strength to perform their special bonsai trick. Their trainer couldn't help himself and fed them and gave them water. The elephants were able to live another day.
     The elephants weren't the only ones who never lost hope. When the trainer didn't follow rules and he finally fed the elephants, the rest of the staff pretended not to notice. They all hoped that the elephants would survive longer. They hoped that the war would end before they died. They couldn't bear to part with their beloved elephants. 
     War affects everyone and everything. Once you go through war and see its affects, it changes your perspective. "Above them, in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more. Still Clinging to the elephants, the zoo keepers raised their fists to the sky and implored, 'Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop all wars!'" Even if it seems hopeless, never lose faith. This is what the short story "Faithful Elephants" has taught me. 

Over the summer, I read the book The Future of Us by Jay Asher. The Future of Us is about Emma Nelson and Josh Templeton. This book takes place in the 1900's. Emma finds a link to FACEBOOK on a software disk her ex- best friend Josh gave her. Once Emma realizes that the facebook website is real, and the profile she's been browsing is actually her in the future, she tries to change her future by sending little ripples in time. She doesn't like how her future is turning out. Josh on the other hand has the future of his dreams. He ends up marrying the popular girl from his high school, having beautiful twins, and living in a gorgeous house on the lake. Emma keeps changing every future she ends up with because she keeps comparing it to Josh's future. Over the course of all the messing with the future, Josh and Emma bond and start to rekindle their friendship. But when Emma's changing goes too far and it's all just fun and games for her, she kisses Josh like its a joke and Josh doesn't talk to her for about 2-3 weeks. Messing with Josh's old feelings really hurt him. But both Josh's and Emma's best friends bring them together and they KISS and make up. They know the kiss will change both of their futures, for the better.