Impression, Themes, Foreshadowing and opinion on Title

      When I started to read The Hare in the Elephant's Trunk, the prologue the protagonist, Jacob, seem to be very distant and depressed so I thought the book would be a little more depressing. When I started to read the chapters the story seemed to have a uplifting feel in but a depressing underline.  As I continued things started to "pop out" to me such as theme, foreshadowing, and the meaning Title. 

         First of all, there are three themes, which mainly contribute to the story, Family, War vs. Peace and Survival. These themes each break down into other important subjects. Family for example breaks down in to things like faith, stories and culture/community, this theme has one of the biggest effects on Jacob because in chapter one and two we find out that he is very close to his family, mostly his mother, "Mama". The War vs. Peace is shown more in chapter two and so on, and it is link in to whether Jacob becomes a soldier or goes to school. In the book it is constantly said if the boys, Jacob in particular, get an education they can help create peace instead of war, as with an education people can sort out conflicts easier. While if they become solider they are help the war go on. Then there is the theme of Survival, which is show in chapters five to ten and then lessens as it continues, it ties in to how the boys stay brave, continue to try to be strong,  and find ways to laugh and be happy even though they are in pain. There will be other things that tie into the story's themes. 

        Secondly, in the book there are lots and lots of foreshadowing and connections to other parts of the story. One of the biggest foreshadowing is when Monyroor is first introduced and talks to Jacob, he says "I met some SPLA soldiers while I was away. They said war is just over the horizon..." and in the next few days, chapter two, the village is attacked. Then there is the number of steps Jacob counted when he was walking with his Uncle Daniel, 78 steps, and it took 78 days to get to Ethiopia. There is one more thing that is significant that shows that there are going to be many other little stories in the story as Jacob is said to be a good storyteller. As his grand mother says, “You have a gift for storytelling, Jacob.”  

        Finally the biggest thing that “popped out” was things involving the title. As we now know that Jacob is the Hare as his Mama says, “You (Jacob) have the long feet of a hare, and strong legs, too.” and he also is called Jacob the Hare. While I believe the War has something to do with the war as he describes the Attack on his village being like”… a herd of rampaging elephant approached” so therefor I believe that the Elephant’s trunk in the story involve the war.