The Elephant Man

1. John Merrick is a kind, but shy spirit. He really just wants a friend that stays around and a place to call home. His self-esteem is really low, and we can be sure of this because whenever John goes out in public he wears a giant cloak, a sleeve to cover his right arm, and a hood to cover his head and face. We also know he has low self-esteem because he doesn’t look or like to look at himself in the mirror. John seems fairly religious not only because he has read the Bible, but he also made a model of a church that meant a lot to him. Merrick is able to do more than anyone believes at first. In the beginning, no one really thinks he can think for himself. Later, after John and Mr. Carr Gomm met each other and John didn’t make the impression that he knows Mr. Treves was hoping for, Mr. Merrick starts reciting Psalms 23 that Treves didn’t teach him. From that point on, Carr Gomm and Treves know Merrick is able to think for himself. John is a huge romantic and very much enjoyed the moment he had with Mrs. Kendall when she called him a Romeo. 2. My theories to why Merrick was born into such pain is society needs diversity or it would be a plain world. John Merrick was just a very complex person. He was able to make London and every place he ever traveled to more unusual. Another theory is that what ever greater power there is above man decided to visually explain to others that no one person will ever be perfect nor has there been a perfect human being. Merrick was just a visual to show the world that there are imperfections in all of us. Some humans just have more diversity to them than the rest of us. Treves said, “Why did people turn away when they saw him?...Did they see in him, without realizing it, a blinding beauty?” He is not necessarily speaking about outside beauty, but an inner one. Treves is saying that John has a rare beauty and he feels like he must mask it. No one realizes John’s beautiful personality and spirit, such a