The Thought After Watching "Grave Of The Fireflies"

My Thoughts After Watching “Grave Of The Fireflies”

The world was in chaos during the WW2. The atrocities of war exist everywhere in Japan. Bombs falling from the sky. War-planes shooting innocent people. A boy and his sister, orphaned when their mother was killed in a bomb raid, were left to survive on their own in what remains of civilization in Japan. The things happened and the emotions between the pair of brother and sister showed me what real kinship is. Fireflies appeared many times in the movie when they are in the darkness. The light from the fireflies represented their hope, guiding and supporting them.

  Grave of the Fireflies is a touching but extremely painful movie. The movie is not about introducing how fierce the war atrocities were. On the contrary, it showed the sibling love from a typical nuclear family. When their mother was killed in the bombing of Tokyo near the end of World War II, teenager Seita and his little sister, Setsuko, were left on their own: their father is away, serving in the Imperial Navy. The two children initially stayed with an aunt, but she has little affection for them and resents the time and money they require. Soon, they decided to leave their aunt and set up home in a cave by a stream, but their meager resources were quickly exhausted, and Seita is reduced to stealing to feed his sister. The scene when Seita was beaten up by the farmer after he was caught stealing food really touched me.

I have many thoughts after watching this movie. Nobody can live without their family. Cherishing and keep a good relationship with my parent are very important to me. As an international student who has just left my family in Shanghai to study in Singapore, I am no longer able to spend as much time with my parents. This is the first time I am leaving home alone and after watching the movie, I wanted to call them, to talk to them and to tell them not to worry about me. They have given me too much and I think the best I can do to return their love will be my good study results. I also cannot help but feel that I have taken too many things for granted. I cannot imagine if I lose my parents one day. Time goes by more quickly than we realize. It seems like yesterday when I was still a child, and, today, I am already an adult, living and taking care of myself away from home. Time files so we have to cherish the time with our family, and to give them more care and love.

  In the movie, Seita takes on all the responsibilities of an elder brother and was forced to steal the food from the field at midnight for his sister. Watching the movie actually made me very envious of Setsuko. I am so touched by the sibling love from Seita. Unfortunately, due to the one-child policy in China, I do not have an elder sibling who can take care of me or a younger sibling whom I can shower my love. I will like to have a younger sibling whom I can take of because I think a strong sense of responsibility is important to men.

  No one said life is a bed of roses. While we are very fortunate not to have to experienced war, I have seen on the news of people suffering and families torn apart due to natural disasters. Watching the movie also reminded me of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which saw 200,000 people die and thousands of families torn apart. Floods, caused by the earthquake, wiped out entire villages and swallowed the lives of innocent people that stood in its way. But like the movie, hope still exists. Despite the disaster, we saw many Chinese people, and friends from all over the world, come to Sichuan to help the people after the earthquake. Even those who have lost their families came forward to help the other people who were suffering. As I watch the movie, and see the fireflies, which represent hope, I see the hope back at home as lives and houses were rebuilt, and in some places, after three years, a brand new city was built.

Around the world, there are still so many people living in bad situations. We are very fortunate to have a good education, a loving family and so many friends to spend our time. If there are lessons the movie has taught me, it will be that we should never take things for granted and to always cherish the things we have and our time with our family. Also, when things become difficult, we must remember that there is always hope, persevere and it will become better. 

Tony