The First Understanding

A Hare in the Elephants Trunk 

Our main character is Jacob, we focus mainly on him and are being told the story mainly from his perspective. The book starts out in Jacobs village in southern Sudan, it is here that we see the very close connection Jacob and his mother share. We are shown what I would call foreshadowing, when Jacobs mother gives him the blue heart shaped stone, "The Mama" stone. On page 94-95, Jacob recalls the night before the bombs came to his village, when his mother took him to the barn and had him crawl on the ground while she sprinkled soft ash on his back "You will be safe now, my son." It is as if his mother new "evil" was soon to come among them. Evil a theme that ties in with one of the main themes of War and Peace. War and Peace is within this book in a literal sense, as well being shown in the sense that Jacob, his young uncle Monyroor, Oscar his friend from the neighbors get village, that was also bombed, and young Willy, the boy they find in the abandoned village, are all fighting against the land, the weather, and there surroundings, travelling to a safe place and for hope. The boys are travelling to Ethiopia, among there travels they spend many a night sleeping in the tall elephant grasses, deep in the woods. Amongst their travels they meet an elder Matthew and his granddaughter, and well they are traveling together they meet a band of boys, the centipede of boys. When it gets to hard for Matthew to keep up with the band of boys, he and his granddaughter rest and are left by themselves. Jacob, Monyoor, Osace and Willy continue on with the band of boys where they experience many nights of fright and that is were our Secound main theme of Survival comes into play. Jacob and his boys are smart and tactical. Bravery goes in hand, we see that not only the land is out to get the boys, but the inhabitants of the land are also to be feared. On page 63-65 Jacob and the other boys are awoken by the screams of a boy being eaten by a lion. This shows that you have to be aware of what is around you and you cannot be afraid of something when you have to keep pushing to get to where you need to be. For a better understanding of the title, we know Jacob is referenced as the Hare multiple times; however there is a more complex meaning, referencing to not just the elephant of war, but to many things, you can chose to go on your journey as the hare, tactical, fast, and knowledgeable, or like the elephants, smart yet under knowledged, destroying as you want, and rampaging threw your "life" like an angry elephant. This book is an intense read that you need to pay close attention to, so that you are able to fully understand all aspects of this book, A Hare in the Elephants Trunk