Theme Of Abuse In Water For Elephants

Mr.Badrigan
11-2-11 Per.3
Say No to Abuse! “Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is- whether its victim is human or animal- we cannot expect things to be much better in this world.”- Rachel Carson. In the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, there is a charismatic but twisted animal trainer named August. You may think his name reminds you of the month August so, therefore, he has a sunny disposition. Don’t let that fool you for one second! While his name suggests otherwise, he is a dark
man (who frequently abuses his wife Marlena). Domestic violence and abuse are used only for one purpose and one purpose only: to gain and maintain control over you.
An abuser doesn’t “play fair”. Abusers use fear, guilt, shame and intimidation to wear you down and keep you under his or her thumb. This novel is set in the Depression and that made it easier for August to maintain control over his wife. She married him at a young age and her parents disowned her for her action. Marlena only had her horses and August during these rough times of the Depression. She often made excuses for his rather wicked fits of anger because half of the time he was as sweet as honey to her. Despite what many people believe, domestic violence and abuse is not due to the abuser’s loss of control over his or her behavior. In fact, abusive behavior and violence is a deliberate choice made by the abuser in order to control you. August has a position of power (head animal trainer) and that clearly went to his head. An example of this is when he ran wild eyed into the animal tent with a whip and started hitting Rosie, the elephant. Marlena is the elephant girl and she adore Rosie. He had to feel like he was in control of Marlena
somehow when she didn’t listen to him about not giving any food to the hobos. Abusers don’t insult, threaten, or assault everyone in their life who gives them grief. Usually, they save their abuse for the people closest to them, the ones they claim they love. In this case, it’s Marlena. Abusers carefully choose when and where they should attack. They control themselves until no one else is around to see their abusive behavior. They may act friendly to other people in public, but lash out instantly as soon as you’re alone together. An example of this in the book is when August was calmly drinking his cup of tea, talking to Jacob (the circus vet). He then saw Marlena walking out of her dressing tent, grabbed her arm and brought her to their train car. The scene only gets ugly after that, he starts attacking her in the privacy of their train car that has quaint pictures of them smiling. While woman are more commonly victimized, men are also abused. The bottom line is that abusive behavior is never acceptable, whether it’s coming from a man, a teenager, or older adult. Every individual deserves to feel valued, respected, and safe. Which in the end, Marlena does feel valued, respected, and safe. She got away from August through Rosie ( elephant) accidently killing him.