Diversity Analysis: Grave of the Fireflies

War stories are most often told about soldiers or leaders in the winning army. We tell stories about the people who are privileged, and the people who survive, and the people who win, because that’s what we want in our own lives. But in doing that, we forget that there are others. There are people who are not privelaged, people who lose wars, and people who do not survive. Just because we don’t envy them doesn’t make their stories less valid, or less important.

“Grave of the Fireflies” is about a boy and his little sister in Japan during World War II. They are not particularly important people. Their father is in the navy, so their mother is alone in taking care of them. They are not unique. There were probably many children in their situation. I think the creators of the film intended for that to be the case. They were not trying to tell a story about one specific pair of children. They were trying to use a story about one specific pair of children to describe hundreds of children in similar situations.

The children lose their mother in an air raid, and go to live with their aunt. They aren’t treated poorly, but their aunt resents them because food is in short supply, and neither of them are going to school or doing anything to help the food situation. Eventually they decide to leave and try to survive on their own. Despite all their efforts, they can’t get enough to eat, and eventually, both of them die. This sort of character is rarely mentioned in media, or given any attention to. This sort of story is not the kind of story that people want to hear. We want to hear stories about success and survival. However, this sort of thing does happen to people. People really do starve, and people really do die, and for every war where one side won, the other side lost. The story of the losing side is just as real as the story of the winning side.

Despite its depressing plot, and its themes of tragedy and loss, the film is not altogether dark. This is a beautiful story of love and family, and how these things survive even in darkness, poverty, and death. That, also, is unfortunately uncommon among stories about war. War is terrible, and horrifying, and many people die in or because of war. But even so, there is always light. I believe we need more stories, like “Grave of the Fireflies” that show the darkness of war, but don’t revel in it.

“Grave of the Fireflies” is unconventional in many ways. Its protagonists are not particularly unique in their society. In fact, in the beginning of the story, it’s made clear that there are many young people dying in similar ways. They are orphans—not tragic orphans who go on to save the world, but orphans who go on to starve to death because they don’t have anyone to take care of them. The themes of the story do not include overcoming difficulties and coming out on top, and the ending seems to mourn for the nameless children who died because of the war. I think the film contributes a lot to the diversity of our media.