Simms - Children Without Support

Grave of the Fireflies

Grave of the Fireflies definitely shows how important family and survival can become during times of struggle. Seita is the older brother to four year old Setsuko and must take on the responsibilities that have been placed on him due to the indifference of adults for the children outside their family. His love for his sister is shown in the way that he not only cares about her survival, but also wants to make sure that she is enjoying her childhood. During this horrifying ordeal he still takes the time to play with his little sister, comfort her, and try to give her the chance to be a child. He loves her enough to encourage her to play and be happy even though they are not in a difficult situation. The indifference that is directed towards himself and his sister is shown as soon as he arrives at his aunt’s house. Overall, she sees them as a burden and puts her own family’s wellbeing over theirs . She makes them feel as unwelcome as possible during their stay and that is what eventually drives Seita to try to survive somewhere else. The other adults in the film, like the farmer and the police officer, notice that these children are suffering, but in the end do nothing to help them. The film makes these children as ephemeral as the fireflies because they were given only a short time of happiness before their lives ended because of malnutrition. In Samuri from Outer Space it was discussed how even loved main characters can die unnecessarily. What makes Seita and Setsuko immortal is the existence of the film itself and how this portrayal of death could affect how others view war and its effects on the citizens. In both the animated film and in Nosaka’s narrative Hotaru no haka, the children are portrayed as victims of both the war and society’s indifference. They are both sorrowful tales that are done in a Kansai dialect. The differences in these two stories come from Nosaka’s own experiences, which the narrative is based off of. He put more blame on himself for his younger sister’s death than he did on society.