So in Grave of the Fireflies, a 14 year old boy, Seita, and his 4 year old sister, Setsuko, are in the midst of World War II. Their town is unfortunate enough to suffer from several air raids throughout the film and their mother is killed during one. One of the aspects of the movie that I really enjoyed was the fact that Setsuko, in a way, was mature for a child. Even though Seita refrained from telling Setsuko that their mother had died, Setsuko already knew. And even though she was upset, she never openly had a breakdown like any normal 4 year old child would. The fact that Setsuko was under circumstances that no child should ever have to endure, she handled her situation fairly well. In society (especially American society), we really don’t give children credit for understanding things labeled as “for adults.” But children ask a lot of questions and that in itself shows that they want to learn things. Even though they don’t always understand the answers, the question “Why?” is a huge one. Such as when Setsuko asks, “Why do fireflies live so shortly?” or something along the lines of that.
I also feel as if Seita isn’t given enough credit for what he does throughout the movie too. I suppose the age of 14 can still be considered to be a “kid” right? But Seita does so much to take care of Setsuko. He finds food, plays with her, carries her, cooks, bathes her, and everything else their aunt was too much of a “b-word” to do. Like she was steady complaining about how he never did anything, but he was taking care of his sister! Honestly, I wish someone would tell me that. Seriously. But the love that they had for each other was so sweet. The movie was so good in that aspect and I actually wish that I cried. But it was horrible how Setsuko’s ashes were tossed away carelessly by the guard man and Seita was never properly buried or cremated. A really unfortunate end for two lovable characters. R.I.P.
 |
| Gah, they're so adorable |
But on an ending note, it was really sad to read that the author of the novel, The Grave of the Fireflies, based the novel on his own experiences and that it was a way of relieving himself of the guilt he felt for the death of his baby sister. So sad.
 |
| I wouldn't know how to feel about a live action version, but I LOVE this picture :') |
I agree with you when you say that Seito and Setsuko are definitely more mature than they seem, and that Seito is not given enough credit for all that he does for his little sister. His aunt definitely did not step up much to help the both of them, but instead, used them to her advantage while treating them badly the whole time. However, I agree that Seito and Setsuko's love for each other is very sweet and is the only thing that allowed them to live for so long. Everyone, and I mean everyone one around them treated them with the most indifference. Even though they were clearly starving, the farmer would not let them have, or even buy any food to survive. Also, the man who brushed Seito off was very mean to him, even though Seito was clearly worried about the well-being of his father. That really struck a nerve with me.
ReplyDelete