Graveyard of the fireflies

Graveyard of the fireflies
A reflection paper

I come and stand at every door. But no one hears my silent tread. I knock and yet remain unseen. For I am dead, for I am dead.

My hair was scorched by swirling flame. My eyes grew dim, my eyes grew blind. Death came and turned my bones to dust. And that was scattered by the wind.

Nazim Hikmet

The movie gives us a glimpse of the devastations a war could inflict upon the people. I speak not of the elites and the powerful but of the masses—parents, old men and women, the youth and the children who are powerless but are the ones most affected by a war.

I haven’t been to war nor am I a child of a revolutionary guerilla or an activist, and used to regard war stories as just that—stories. But studying in a university that serves as a nest for nationalists as well as radical activists opened my eyes to the horrifying reality behind a nation’s quest for liberation and power.

I am angered and outraged at the elites who more often than not had caused grief, suffering and heartache to the people—the masses, who would foolishly engage in a war just to satisfy their lust and greed for supremacy and monopoly of the economic power. I see no benefits in waging a war—only the bloody remains of corpses, orphaned malnourished children, and the screaming cries of pain of the wounded.

I cannot help but wonder how many Seitas and Setsukos various kinds of wars have made. How many families were left without a home or how many children were forced to fend for themselves in a world where the adults can hardly continue to exist? Tears fall from our eyes as we see the love, pride and desperation of Seita for his and Setsuko’s life.

The movie moved us and at the same time reminded us of the grim reality that this is happening right here in our country—whose so-called president declared war upon her very own people.

Maybe the president should see this film. But I doubt if it would touch or move her—cold hearted as she is. Though philosophers, activists, and leaders alike think that there is no bloodless revolution, I could only add that are no victors or losers after a war—only innocent people and children dragged into the foray—helpless and filled with pain, and whose lives will be disrupted forever.

* this reflection paper was written for my jap 13 class.