Language & Imagery

I found the language that Gruen used was easy to follow. I did, however, require a dictionary for a few words that were new to me. Some terminology is a bit different from my known vocabulary, as the bulk of the novel was set during the Great Depression. This made the book a fun read, yet it also challenged me. Gruen did a spectacular job with her imagery. There were many disturbing images that were brought up, and she described them quite well, in my opinion. For example; the disaster that brings down the entire circus is described so well that I can picture it in my head…

“Rosie stretches out her trunk, reaching for something. A giraffe passes between us, its long neck bobbing gracefully even in panic, and when it’s gone I see that Rosie has pulled her stake from the ground. She holds it loosely, resting its end on the hard dirt. The chain is still attached to her foot. She looks at me with bemused eyes. Then her gaze shifts to the back of August’s bare head. […] She lifts the stake as though it weighs nothing and splits his head in a single clean movement…” (pg. 395-396)

I find her description very useful when I try to imagine the events as they unfold. She does an amazing job providing imagery throughout the entire novel; this is just one example.

Symbolism

I haven’t noticed much symbolism in the novel really; I think I have to analyze it a bit more. However after some consideration about a certain event in chapter six, I thought it may fall under a heading of symbolism. On page 110, August has Jacob feed the cats. He tells him to feed Rex, a lion with no teeth. Jacob is unaware that he has no teeth, and therefore when the cat bites his arm, he screams. August ensures Jacob this was a joke, but he does not find it funny. I think Rex may symbolize August in a way. For example, Rex is deceiving, and so is August. Rex looks harmful but he has no teeth, so he can’t harm you as much. August at first is charming and gracious, yet turns out to “have teeth” as he is aggressive and angry.

Characters

There are many characters in Water for Elephants. Almost all of them have interesting pasts and are complex on their own. When they are all thrown together in the novel, the result is an explosion of emotions, events, etc.  

Jacob Jankowski

The novel’s protagonist; a resident in a nursing home who is reminiscing on the time he spent as a circus vet during the 1930’s. Both the elderly Jacob and young Jacob tell the story. Jacob’s parents are killed in a car crash before he writes his veterinary exams. (pg. 21)  He then inadvertently runs away with the circus, becoming their vet and falling in love with one of the performers, Marlena.

Marlena Rosenbluth

The woman that our protagonist falls in love with... She is married to the equestrian director, an abusive man who is a paranoid schizophrenic. The fact that he is such a brutal man leads to many issues and problems that Jacob must overcome. Marlena marries August when she was just a mere 17 years of age, after she ran away with the circus. Marlena cares for all of the animals on the show, but shows a particular liking to not only Rosie, the elephant, but her horses as well. When her star horse must be put down, “She doesn’t even try to wipe the tears that slide down her cheeks, just stands hugging her arms with shoulders heaving, gasping for breath. She looks like she’s going to collapse in on herself.” (pg. 128) She is a genuine person who deeply cares for people and animals.

August Rosenbluth

The paranoid schizophrenic that I’ve mentioned a few times before… He abuses animals and other people. He cares about the show, and making it perfect, however he doesn’t much care for the beings that are hurt in the process of striving for perfection.

Alan Bunkel (Uncle Al)

The owner of the circus… He runs everything. He does anything to get what he wants. And when he runs out of meat to feed his tigers, lions and other large cats, he shoots his horses to feed them. He knows his priorities, and people are not high on his list. He also red lights people when he can’t pay them.

Walter (Kinko)

A small person with whom Jacob bunks with on the train... His best friend is his dog, Queenie. At first, when he is forced to bunk with Jacob, he hates him, but as the story progresses they become very good friends. Kinko is “red lighted” towards the end of the novel. *note: to be red lighted means to be thrown from the train while it is moving, either because of lack of money to pay people or because the person is an inconvenience to the circus. The fact that he is re lighted enrages Jacob, because they become such great friends. Kinko is fond of practical jokes as he is a clown on the circus. To pay Jacob back for going through his things, Kinko paints his face like a clown, dresses him in a dress and shaves his hair on a night where Jacob gets incredibly drunk. The reason he is on the circus is because his mother sold him to it when he was younger.

Camel

The first man that Jacob meets when he jumps the circus train... He takes Jacob under his wing and gets him a job with the circus. It is because of Camel that Jacob survives and finds Marlena and has a successful life. Camel is an alcoholic that his family disowned, hence why he himself is on the circus train.

Rosie

Quite possibly the most important character… She is the show’s elephant. At first she is thought to be utterly useless and stupid because she doesn’t respond to English. She was taught to listen to Polish, and Jacob discovers this partway through the novel. When August learns this he starts to treat her better and she becomes the star of the show with Marlena. She is very important because she shows everyone else's true colours, if you will. Because Jacob is a caring man, he treats her with respect and would never harm her. Because August is a harsh man, he abuses her, yells at her, etc.

Charlie O’Brien

A small role, yet very important… He is the manager of the circus that is in town when Jacob is in the nursing home, remembering his past. Jacob tells him everything about his story and the collapse of his circus. Charlie decides to let Jacob “come home” again, and work for his circus. The circus has been Jacob’s home for years and Charlie realizes that.

Rosemary

One of the nurses at the nursing home in which Jacob stays... She treats him like an equal, rather than a child who must be disciplined. She understands his frustration with never getting proper food and not having a choice in anything, for example, whether his blinds are open or not. (pg. 136)

Themes Pt. 1

There's an immense number of themes in the novel, therefore I have grouped them together. :)

Love, Desire & Seduction

First of all, there is the allure of the circus. The idea of running away from everything you know to discover new people, places and things. The circus is seductive because it brings to attention many things that people find interesting, for example, freaks and animals. The dark side is alluring to everyone, making the secrets and illusions within the circus a perfect setting for seduction. There are many relationships in the novel that fall under these themes. Within the first few pages, there is already an example. The relationship between Catherine (a classmate) and Jacob Jankowski is entirely desire. Jacob wants one thing from her, and she refuses to give him that one desire, as she figures their relationship post-coital will not be successful. He then falls in love with Marlena the moment he sees her, “She looks so much like Catherine I catch my breath – the plane of her face, the cut of her hair, the slim thighs I’ve always imagined were under Catherine’s staid skirts.” (pg. 50) In Marlena, he sees the woman he has desired for years, yet it is a different relationship where he respects her. However, the relationship between Marlena and Jacob is fairly complicated. Marlena is married to another man, the equestrian director of the show. His name is August and the relationship he has with his wife is controlling and outrageous. He is mentally unstable; a paranoid schizophrenic. (pg. 340) There is yet another relationship based on desire in Water for Elephants. Jacob desires Barbara, a prostitute on the show. This isn’t a complex relationship and is very short-lived. Barbara and a fellow prostitute attempt to take Jacob’s virginity while he is completely drunk, and he ends up vomiting on them while they do so. This quickly ends their relationship. Uncle Al also has an unhealthy love of money. He will do anything for money, including killing show horses to keep tigers fed, in order to save him money. There are many examples of love within this novel; so many that they cannot all be covered, without reading it.

Deception, Illusions, Secrets & Lies

The circus is all about illusions and deception. As August explains to Jacob;

“You already know that Marlena’s not Romanian royalty. And Lucinda? Nowhere near eight hundred and eighty-five pounds. Four hundred, tops. And do you really think Frank Otto got tattooed by angry headhunters in Borneo? Hell no. He used to be a stake driver on the Flying Squadron. He worked on that ink for nine years. And you want to know what Uncle Al did when the hippo died? He swapped out her water for formaldehyde and kept on showing her. For two weeks we traveled with a pickled hippo. The whole thing’s an illusion, Jacob, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s what people want from us. It’s what they expect.” (pg. 134)

The entirety of the circus is based on lies that are fed to the people. August explains that although they market the famous “fat lady” to be 885 pounds, she is a mere 400. He also explains that they lie when it comes to backstories as well; they claim that their “tattooed man” got his tattoos way differently than how he actually did. People on the circus believe that the deception of it all is acceptable because it is to be expected; it has always been that way. The character August himself is also deceptive. He starts out being charming and affectionate and turns out to be an abusive and overall angry person. Marlena says, “He’s…mercurial. He’s capable of being the most charming man on Earth.” (pg. 123) He is amazing at deceiving people into thinking he is a worthy person. For example, when he wooed Marlena when she was 17 and he was 12 years older than her. He made it seem like he was the greatest, most charming, nicest guy she could have, and then a month into marriage seemed to turn into a control freak that had an abusive, angry side. There are many secrets in the novel, as well. The relationship between Marlena and Jacob is major secret, because if anyone finds out, Jacob will likely be killed and Marlena will be beat by her husband! There is also a secret/underground prostitution business within the circus that runs behind the scenes. Another secret that is kept in this story is how August ends up dying. The protagonist knows his entire life just who kills the man, but never tells a soul (until the end of the novel where he tells Charlie O’Brien, a manager at the circus in town). The lies, secrecy and deception generally lead to another theme of competition and envy.

Competition & Envy

Uncle Al is always competing with every other circus in business. He must always have the best “freaks” and the best performers. He is a vulture; he hears that a circus is about to fall apart, and he is there to pick up jobless performers and workers as well as any freaks to add to his collection. For example, he takes his entire circus on a three day trek in order to pick apart what was left of the Fox Bros. circus when it collapsed. The reason? “They employed the world-famous Charles Mansfield-Livingston, a handsome, dapper man with a parasitic twin growing out of his chest…It looks like an infant with its head buried in his ribcage.” (pg. 99) Jacob is incredibly envious of August. August is married to the woman he loves, making her the most unattainable woman on the show. There is also jealousy from August because his wife also ends up falling in love with Jacob. This also enrages him, to the point where he becomes unbelievably abusive. The theme of anger is carried throughout the novel.

Chapter One

I haven't read much of Water for Elephants yet, however from what I have read I think that this novel will be a very interesting read. I find the main character, Jacob, to be an intriguing story teller who has a great story to tell. His circus past is quite the subject of conversation, and the love story that was foreshadowed in the prologue, between him and Marlena, seems dark and exciting. I already feel compassion for Jacob, who lost his parents at a young age. I can relate to him so easily, even though I myself have not lost a parent. Overall, although I have seen the movie adaptation of this novel, I believe that it is going to be a great read. I realise this post is incredibly short and I do apologize. More to come soon! :)