Water For Elephants Summary

October 7, 2011
Water for Elephants Approach Paper

I. Summary Paragraph: Sarah Gruen’s Water for Elephants is an account of ninety-something year old Jacob Jankowski’s life, both in the present day, where he resides in a nursing home, unhappy with his living conditions and the old age that has robbed him of his freedom, and through flashbacks of when he was young, traveling with the circus. Just a few days away from getting his veterinary degree from Cornell University, Jacob’s mother and father were suddenly killed in an automobile accident, sending Jacob’s life spiraling out of control; with his parents’ debt having left him with no home and no money, he hops aboard a circus train for the “Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth,”
where he lands a job as the vet. The show is owned and run by Alan J. Bunkel, referred to as Uncle Al, and his right hand man and equestrian director August, who becomes Jacob’s boss.
August is a paranoid schizophrenic who switches between kind and charming to vicious and violent, and through the course of the story Jacob faces a number of challenges in dealing with August, while also learning how to function in the hierarchy of the circus and falling in love with August's wife, Marlena. During the circus’s travels, it acquires a new member: an elephant named Rosie who is first thought to be useless, and during one episode learns to pull her stake out of the ground so she can repeatedly steal the circus’s lemonade, resulting in fits of rage by Uncle Al and hatred as well as harsh punishment from August. The elephant is later discovered by Jacob to not be stupid, but to only understand commands in Polish, after which she is trained and becomes the star of the show. Life is better than ever in the circus, and Jacob and Marlena fall more and more in love with each other, to the jealousy of August, who accuses his wife of cheating, hits her, and gets in a huge brawl with Jacob. After that, things start going downhill as August can’t lead the much anticipated elephant act with his injured and disfigured face, leaving the circus to
be repeatedly chased out of town by angry mobs and on the verge of bankruptcy. When times get hard, a customary practice of Uncle Al’s is “redlighting” workers, or throwing them off the moving train. At the climax of the story, 5 of the men who are given this treatment return for revenge, releasing all the menagerie animals and setting off a stampede in which August is killed, and results in Uncle Al committing suicide. With the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth having come to an end, Marlena and Jacob get married, join the Ringling Brothers circus, and start their new lives together. In the present day, the circus has come to town and elderly Jacob, having been abandoned by his family members who promised to take him, defies the nursing home’s rules and ventures there alone. He meets the owner, to whom he tells his life’s story, and gets offered a spot traveling with the show. He happily accepts, breaking free from his imprisonment and retaking his autonomy, once again running away with the circus. The theme of the novel is one being given less than what he truly wants and needs out of life, and breaking free of despondency to pursue true happiness; this is demonstrated by Marlena leaving August, elderly Jacob escaping the nursing home, and Rosie the elephant pulling her stake from the ground to drink the lemonade.

II. Character Descriptions:
Jacob Jankowski: Compassionate “It’s impossible to describe how I suddenly feel towards them – hyenas, camels and all. Even the polar bear, who sits on his backside chewing his four-inch claws with his four-inch teeth. A love for these animals wells up in me suddenly, a flash flood, and there it is, solid as an obelisk and as viscous as water.” P. 145-146

Uncle Al: Wrathful “’Shut up!’ Shreiks Uncle Al, leaping to his feet. His sleeve catches the snifter and knocks it on the carpet. He stares at it, his fists clenched and face growing darker and darker. Then he bares his teeth and screams a long, inhuman howl, bringing his foot down on the glass again and again and again.” P. 58

August Rosenbluth: Mercurial “’Do you understand?’ He speaks through clenched teeth. ‘Do...you...understand?’ he repeats, coming to a full stop after each word. I stare straight into his unblinking eyes. ‘Entirely,’ I say. ‘Good,’ he says. He takes his finger out of my face and steps backwards. ‘Good,’ he says again, nodding and allowing his face to relax. He forces a laugh. ‘I’ll tell you what, that whiskey will go down well.’” P. 119

III. Discussion/Essay Questions:
1. The novel is written through the eyes of a ninety-something year old Jacob Jankowski. He narrates on his current life and also on his past. How is elderly Jacob different from his young counterpart? What is the cause behind these changes? What characteristics has he retained?

2. One of the themes in this book has to do with one settling for less than what he truly desires. Who are some characters who display this behavior? What is the result of their submission? How does this relate to the time period in which the flashback portion of the story is set?

3. In the world of the Benzini Brothers circus, water is scarce and rationed. What does water represent? What does lack thereof symbolize about life in the circus? What is the significance of the extensive alcohol consumption in the story?

IV. Key Passage: From Page 272, Jacob and Marlena are lying together in Marlena’s hotel room after they just had sex. “Afterward, I curl around her. We lie in silence until darkness falls, and then, haltingly, she begins to talk. She slides her feet between my ankles, plays with my fingertips, and before long the words are pouring out. She speaks without need or even room for response, so I simply hold her and stroke her hair. She talks of the pain, grief, and horror of the past four years; of learning to cope with being the wife of a man so violent and unpredictable his touch made her skin crawl and of thinking, until quite recently, that she'd finally managed to do that. And then, finally, of how my appearance had forced her to realize she hadn't learned to cope at all. “

V. Key Passage Explaination: Marlena was describing to Jacob, the man she’s fallen in love with, the “pain, grief, and horror” of the past that she came out of, reflecting on the last four years of her marriage with an abusive husband who’s “touch made her skin crawl.” Water for Elephants is centered around the theme of accepting a less than ideal quality of life, versus pursuing what one truly wants. Marlena was stuck with the consequences of the mistake she made when she married her husband, and the best she could do was learn to accept and deal with it. She had gotten quite good at this, perhaps even fooling herself. But then she started experiencing feelings for Jacob, and her former certainty was shaken. She thought she had learned to live with her situation, but after meeting Jacob, it “forced her to realize she hasn’t learned to cope at all.” He opened her eyes to what real love could be, and once she had experienced it she couldn’t stand being content with anything less. This passage took place right after Marlena and Jacob made love for the first time. It was when both of them had finally managed to break free from their inner imprisonment to obtain the love they craved all along. Her telling her story to Jacob was the final letting go of her past, while they moved on to a brighter future together. This passage represented a key moment in the novel, where emotional strife had been expelled and hardship had been overcome by love.