Water for Elephants
The Choice to Live Life the Way it Should Be | | | October 26, 2012 | 4th |
How do you feel about Jacob’s decision at the end of the novel? Give reasons/support for your answer from the text. |
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is about an old man recounting his experiences in the circus. As an old man, Jacob Jankowski makes a decision to leave his nursing home and join the circus that has come to his town. After Jacob’s parents’ death during Jacob’s college exams, Jacob decides to leave college and hop on a train. He hops on a train that happens to be the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. He makes many friends in the circus and marries his love, Marlena. They start a family in the Ringling Brothers circus after the Benzini Brothers circus collapses. In the circus he gains family, friends, and tons of stories. When Jacob is in the Nursing home, his son, Simon, forgets to take Jacob to the circus. Jacob then decides to walk there himself from the nursing home. Jacob anticipates a joyful circus day and his forgetful son is not going to stop Jacob from enjoying that day. All Jacob wants to do is relive his adventurous past for a day, and when an opportunity to relive that adventure for the rest of his life is offered to him, Jacob takes it. The manager of the circus offers Jacob the opportunity to join the circus. Anyone would give up boring nursing home living for the circus. Jacob makes a good decision at the end of the novel because it is justified by his life now and his past experiences in the circus.
The life in the nursing home is terrible in the eyes of Jacob. This life can be easily be replaced by circus life. The people at the nursing home look at Jacob as an obligation. In the circus he is admired. He knows that the nursing home will be fine without him. Once he realizes this, the choice to join the circus is easy. He is very honest with himself and he shows this when he says, “So what if I’m ninety-three? So what is I’m
How do you feel about Jacob’s decision at the end of the novel? Give reasons/support for your answer from the text. |
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is about an old man recounting his experiences in the circus. As an old man, Jacob Jankowski makes a decision to leave his nursing home and join the circus that has come to his town. After Jacob’s parents’ death during Jacob’s college exams, Jacob decides to leave college and hop on a train. He hops on a train that happens to be the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. He makes many friends in the circus and marries his love, Marlena. They start a family in the Ringling Brothers circus after the Benzini Brothers circus collapses. In the circus he gains family, friends, and tons of stories. When Jacob is in the Nursing home, his son, Simon, forgets to take Jacob to the circus. Jacob then decides to walk there himself from the nursing home. Jacob anticipates a joyful circus day and his forgetful son is not going to stop Jacob from enjoying that day. All Jacob wants to do is relive his adventurous past for a day, and when an opportunity to relive that adventure for the rest of his life is offered to him, Jacob takes it. The manager of the circus offers Jacob the opportunity to join the circus. Anyone would give up boring nursing home living for the circus. Jacob makes a good decision at the end of the novel because it is justified by his life now and his past experiences in the circus.
The life in the nursing home is terrible in the eyes of Jacob. This life can be easily be replaced by circus life. The people at the nursing home look at Jacob as an obligation. In the circus he is admired. He knows that the nursing home will be fine without him. Once he realizes this, the choice to join the circus is easy. He is very honest with himself and he shows this when he says, “So what if I’m ninety-three? So what is I’m