87 pages • 2 hours read
Roland SmithElephant Run
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
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BetaPart 1, Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: “The Plantation”
Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary: “The Enemy”
Nick, Mya, and Indaw stay up later than Jackson discussing the plan, and the people who will care for them along the way to Australia. Mya seems to have resigned herself to leaving, but Nick has no intention of backing down. The next morning, Nick wakes up early and goes for a swim in the river to soothe his sore ribs. As he floats, he wonders how to persuade his father to let him stay: “His father was taking a stand. Why wouldn't he allow Nick to take a stand with him?” (97). Suddenly, Nick hears shouts in the woods, and Japanese soldiers appear. They take Jackson, Indaw, and Mya hostage, violently hitting and kicking them and firing their guns. They can't see Nick, who hides behind a snag in the river. Magwe and another mahout then appear on elephants, and Indaw rages at them, believing they are traitors. The Japanese soldiers clear out the campsite, taking everyone but Nick hostage. After they leave, Nick swims ashore to discover a message scratched in the dirt. It tells him to find Hilltop. He begins to swim to the island but is apprehended by another Japanese soldier, Sergeant Sonji, who finds him because he left his boots behind.
Part 1, Chapter 11 Summary: “Sergeant Sonji”
Nick and Sergeant Sonji walk through the jungle. Sergeant Sonji takes his time, reciting a haiku for Nick about crickets and reassuring him that he won't be hurt if he treats the colonel with respect. Finally, the two arrive at Hawk's Nest to find the village in ruins. Dead animals are in the street, a few huts have been burned, and many more have been ransacked. Worst of all: “Hanging above the porch was a huge Japanese flag [and] [b]eneath it were two dead bodies. Nang and Captain Josephs” (109). Nick sees the villagers sitting in a circle outside, with his father in the middle, kneeling on the ground. Some soldiers remove Indaw from the house, after badly beating him. Nick worries he will be shot.
Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary: “Colonel Nagayoshi”
Nick waits beside his father in an uncomfortable kneeling position. They try to talk, but Sonji interrupts them. Finally, Nick and his father are brought inside to see the colonel. Japanese soldiers eat at their dining table. Colonel Nagayoshi is set up in Jackson's office. Jackson gives him the code to his safe, but the Colonel doesn't seem to find what he's looking for. Jackson questions the Colonel about Nang's death, which the Colonel passes off as a consequence of war. Then, Jackson and Colonel Nagayoshi discuss Nick's fate. Colonel Nagayoshi offers Nick a safer way—away from the POW camps and death marches. Colonel Nagayoshi has a son and wife in America, whom he hasn't heard from since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He understands Jackson's pain. Nick protests being left behind, but Jackson insists. Father and son are left alone for a moment, and Jackson is able to advice Nick to be obedient, polite, and to find Hilltop and other allies. He also tells Nick that they will find his way back, no matter the cost. Finally, the two are pulled apart, saying their goodbyes, and Nick is taken into his old nursery. The servant, Bukong, leads the way and finally pushes him into the room and locks the door behind him, sneering, “You are no longer the little master of this house” (125).
Part 1, Chapters 10-12 Analysis
The violence of war is apparent in these chapters, particularly in the moment when Nick sees the hanging, brutalized bodies of Nang and Captain Josephs. Dogs and pigs lay dead in the road, and Nick vomits from the sights of brutality around him. Later, we come to learn that Nang’s death was an accident, a casualty of war, as Colonel Nagayoshi says. This senseless death is later punished with more death, only contributing to the grief, violence, and trauma.
Sergeant Sonji arises from this violence as an unlikely ally for Nick. He is gentler than other soldiers and occupies Nick with thoughts of nature and haiku that distract him momentarily from his fears. Sonji continues to play this role throughout the novel, but in these early chapters, he appears as a confusing counterpoint for Nick around his ideas of war—in his eyes, if war equals violence, then soldiers must dole out violence. However, Sonji proves that there are other, more merciful methods—that even in war, there can be humanity. Finally, Bukong’s last phrase to Nick in this section depicts the colonial influences that run through the novel. He says, “You are no longer the little master of this house” (125), locking Nick in his nursery room. In this moment, the balance of colonial powers is upset, and Bukong becomes the master, while Nick is the slave. Bukong sees Nick’s imprisonment as a victory—proof that the tables have turned, and his time in power has come.
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By Roland Smith
