Eleanor Coerr alludes to the cause-effect connexion between the injurious World War II and lethal Leukaemia: “Sadako quickly bowed her head. She fidgeted and wriggled her bare toes while Mr. Sasaki spoke. He prayed that the spirits of their ancestors were happy and peaceful. He gave thanks for his barbershop. He gave thanks for his fine children. And he prayed that his family would be protected from the atom bomb disease called leukemia. Many still died from the disease, even though the atom bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima nine years before. It had filled the air with radiation—a kind of poison—that stayed inside people for a long time.” The ripple upshots of World War II linger long after the war is resolved. Had not been there bombings nine years before, the perilous exposure to Leukaemia would be marginal. The aftershock of Leukaemia afflictions surmises that war’s ramifications are enduring. Dissolution of a war is not tantamount to the categorical eradication of all of its deleterious upshots.
Sadako implements absolute Avoidance to defy the dreadful ‘Atomic bomb’ blemishes: “The day passed too quickly, as it always did. The best part, Sadako thought, was looking at all the things to buy and smelling the good food. There were stalls selling everything from bean cakes to chirping crickets. The worst part was seeing people with ugly whitish scars. The atom bomb had burned them so badly that they no longer looked human. If any of the bomb victims came near Sadako, she turned away quickly.” The scars are not alluring; thus, Sadako circumvents them so that they would not collapse her merry mood. Perceiving the dreadful scars is correspondent to beholding the coldblooded bombing which triggered them. The ‘Peace Day’ merriments are not satisfactory to obliterate the patent scars; the festivities hearten sufferers to embrace their scars.
The ‘paper cranes’ are meaningful as material icons in Sadako’s lifespan: “When she began to work with the paper, Sadako discovered that folding a crane wasn’t as easy as it looked. With Chizuko’s help she learned how to do the difficult parts. After making ten birds, Sadako lined them up on the table beside the golden crane. Some were a bit lopsided, but it was a beginning…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.” The notable cranes are emblematic of Sadako’s aspiration for robust health. They constructively divert her from other antagonistic feelings such as the probability of perishing. The determination which Sadako displays while assembling the paper cranes mirrors her unconscious anticipation for a fit and dynamic existence. Perhaps, symbols comparable to cranes can be amalgamated in psychanalyses for patients weathering terminal ailments.
