40 pages • 1 hour read
Eleanor CoerrSadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
Eleanor CoerrFiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1977A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Hope and Perseverance
Throughout the novel, Sadako is an inspiring model of hope and perseverance. At the story’s beginning, she wants to join the junior high school racing team “more than anything else” (23). With her heart set on this goal, she trains diligently every day. Her hard work is rewarded when she helps her relay team claim victory on Field Day: “The bamboo class surrounded Sadako, cheering and shouting” (25). This victory shows how her perseverance inspires others, especially her peers. Sadako persists with her training even after she develops worrisome dizzy spells, the first symptom of her leukemia.
Sadako remains optimistic after her illness manifests. Eleanor Coerr takes care to show that the protagonist’s hopefulness is not mere youthful naïveté but rather a brave and deliberate decision: “By now Sadako realized that she had leukemia, but she also knew that some patients recovered from the disease. She never stopped hoping that she would get well, too” (41). The author uses symbols and motifs to develop the theme of hope and perseverance. The origami birds serve as a motif for the theme because they give Sadako the strength to persevere and help her believe that anything is possible. The paper cranes that fill her hospital room are a tangible expression of Sadako’s powerful desire to live, a desire she reaffirms with each bird she folds: “Eleven...I wish I’d get better. Twelve...I wish I’d get better” (39). The Kokeshi doll gifted to Sadako by her classmates is another important symbol and a source of hope. These traditional wooden dolls represent wishes for good fortune, and Sadako underscores her resolutions by sharing them with her doll: “‘I will get better,’ she murmured to the Kokeshi doll, ‘and someday I’ll race like the wind’” (56). Coerr uses the objects important to the historical Sadako to illustrate her protagonist’s hope and perseverance in the face of suffering.
Coerr further develops the novel’s theme of hope and perseverance in the epilogue by explaining how the historical Sadako continues to inspire others. The author shares letters sent to her by people who have read her novel and found courage and motivation in Sadako’s story, including patients with cancer and schoolchildren who want to see an end to war. To this day, people from around the world gather at the Children’s Peace Monument more than 60 years after Sadako’s death. Sadako never stopped believing in miracles, which makes her a powerful example for those who persevere in the hope of fostering peace.
War’s Impact on Children
By focusing on the atomic bomb’s young victims, Coerr emphasizes the devastation war inflicts on the innocent. The bomb did not distinguish between soldiers and civilians or adults and children. The initial blast indiscriminately wiped out approximately 27% of Hiroshima’s population and left the survivors to contend with the deadly effects of radiation poisoning, which could manifest years or even decades later. In Sadako’s case, she appeared to be completely healthy until she was 12. Coerr doesn’t explore why the United States dropped the bomb. The novel’s purpose is to examine the bombing’s effects rather than its causes, and no explanation or justification would feel satisfactory in the face of the suffering of children like Sadako. Kenji wasn’t even born during World War II, and Sadako was only a toddler. Coerr’s novel guides her readers toward understanding and empathy because people can sympathize with these children regardless of their nationality or knowledge of World War II.
Coerr develops the theme by sharing vivid descriptions of Sadako’s emotional and physical suffering. During her months-long hospitalization with leukemia, she is in “almost constant pain” (56). The once swift and energetic athlete experiences draining exhaustion, “throbbing headaches,” “times [when] her bones seemed to be on fire,” and “dizzy spells [that] sent Sadako into deep blackness” (41). In addition, she must contend with the emotional and psychological impact of living with a deadly disease: “A bigger pain was growing deep inside of her. It was the fear of dying” (56). Coerr points out that all this suffering is the result of war by repeatedly referring to leukemia as “the atom bomb disease” (13). Coerr movingly depicts war’s mental and physical toll on the young Sadako.
Although he appears in only one chapter, Kenji also makes important contributions to this theme. His tragically short life is defined by loss, much directly attributable to World War II. Coerr doesn’t specify how Kenji’s parents died, but his mother was exposed to radiation, which caused him to develop leukemia. The orphan leads a life of melancholy solitude in the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, and his talks with Sadako appear to be his only source of friendship. The protagonist enjoys a carefree childhood until her symptoms start at age 11, but nine-year-old Kenji has been in the hospital “for a long time” (43). He is resigned to his loneliness and the early death that looms over his thoughts: “‘It doesn’t really matter,’ he went on with a weary sigh, ‘because I’ll die soon. I have leukemia from the bomb’” (43). The war robs him of his happiness as well as his health. By showing the devastating impact of war on Sadako and Kenji, Coerr makes a moving plea for peace.
Living With Grief
While Sadako’s story has touched people worldwide with its universal messages about war and hope, Coerr’s novel also examines how one family attempts to live with grief. Sadako’s illness prevents her from having the life that she and her parents dream of for her. As soon as she’s diagnosed with leukemia, she must contend with frightening changes and severe disappointments. When Sadako learns that she must stay in the hospital, one of her first thoughts is that she won’t be able to make the junior high school racing team, a goal for which she spent months training. Sadako copes with her condition by striving to keep alive her own hopes and those of her loved ones. In this regard, her fascination with good luck and wishes serves her well. The legend of the cranes resonates deeply with her, and she holds fast to the belief that miracles are possible: “With the golden crane nearby she felt safe and lucky. Why, in a few weeks she would be able to finish the thousand. Then she would be strong enough to go home” (36). In addition, Sadako tries to shield others from grief by making jokes and doing her utmost to conceal her physical and emotional pain. For example, she uses humor as a coping mechanism and makes her younger siblings laugh in Chapter 8 when she responds to the compliments about her new kimono by saying that she’ll “wear it to classes every day when [she’s] well again” instead of her school uniform (59). At this point, Sadako knows that it’s highly unlikely that she will be able to return to school. While Sadako naturally experiences moments of loneliness, fear, and sorrow as she contends with her imminent death, she copes with grief by leaning on her natural optimism and courage.
Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Sasaki must find their own ways of coping with their daughter’s condition. Not wanting to frighten Sadako or voice their own difficult emotions, they often rely on denial. For example, when Sadako is first admitted to the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital, she overhears her parents discussing her leukemia diagnosis with a doctor. When she asks them directly, “Do I really have the atom bomb disease?” (31), they refuse to confirm her diagnosis and suggest that she will be able to return home in a matter of weeks. Like their daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Sasaki look to the cranes for strength. The novel implies that Sadako’s parents do not share her conviction that the legend is true, but they help Sadako hold onto this comforting belief by gathering paper for her to fold and encouraging her to believe that the cranes can grant her wish. Mrs. Sasaki also copes with her grief by giving Sadako lavish expressions of love. In Chapter 8, she sews an expensive silk kimono for Sadako, “something her mother had always wanted for her” (56). Even though Sadako is only able to wear the kimono once, Mrs. Sasaki believes that it’s important for every girl her age to have traditional Japanese apparel, and she ensures that Sadako does not miss out on this milestone because of her condition. Mr. and Mrs. Sasaki struggle to voice their grief, and they express their love for their daughter through gifts and actions.
Ultimately, the Sasakis take comfort in their faith that familial love is permanent even though life is not. Their spiritual beliefs and practices, such as morning prayers and the celebration of O Bon, honor their departed loved ones and invite their spirits to remain actively involved in their lives. Sadako’s grandmother, who perished soon after the bomb fell, remains an important part of the Sasaki family a decade after her death. Seeing this allows Sadako to trust that her family will remember her and that she’ll still be a part of them after she dies. In her final moments, she draws comfort from her certainty that “[n]othing could ever change” the bond that unites her and her family members (63). As the Sasakis learn to live with grief, they find strength in their unconditional and unending love for one another.
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