Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Essay Example

?Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen will come up with written works based on what they have seen, heard or even felt. Influenced and inspired by the ‘environment’ in their lifetimes or even before their lifetimes, they will come up with realistic as well as fictional works. The authors could be influenced by certain current or historical events, culture of a particular time, lives of great people and many more factors to come up with those works. This influence can enable novel writers to create a more authentic or at the same time interestingly fictionalized plot as well as script for their novels. The incorporation and there resultant reflection of culture, customs, and other intricate aspects of a particular time, in a novel, which was set in that particular time, is one of the key requisites to become a “Great American Novel”. “From the late nineteenth century to World War I, and even after, there was much discussion of the great American novel. Eventually the idea died…But in recent years the idea, though not the phrase, has returned to life” (O’Connor 1). Thus, when a novel written by an American novelist aptly reflects and incorporates various cultural aspects and perspectives of American people of a particular time, in which the novel is set, it can be considered for elevation as “Great American Novel”. Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen and set during the Depression era of 1930s, is one such novel, as it aptly reflects sizable aspects of that time, even while telling a romanticism filled human story about an individual’s want to find a place, which he can call his “home”. The main protagonist of this novel is Jacob Jankowski, and when the novel opens, he is shown as an irritable, at the same time sharp "ninety. Or ninety-three year-old" man, living in an old age nursing home. (Gruen 1). Irritable in the sense, he exhibits a lot of frustration for being ‘trapped’ in the body of an old man, although he has a young and active mindset, and wish to go in search of his ‘home’. He does not consider the nursing home as his ‘home’ and feels annoyed there. Age old nursing homes have become a common phenomenon nowadays with many aged people voluntarily going or even forced to go into these homes. In the current times, aged people are having longer life-spans because of the advancing medical treatments and with the working sons and daughters of those people unable to personally take care of them, old age nursing homes are becoming the last refuge for these old people. In the past, the family had major responsibility for taking care of its elderly, particularly the sick elderly, but that has minimized sizably in the current times. (Shanas). With the central protagonist being portrayed as a 90 years old man with no caretakers, he was placed in the nursing home. Thus, as the author ‘sets’ the older Jacob’s character at the turn of the 20th century, he has incorporated the cultural element of old age nursing homes. The way Jacob was treated by the staffs at the nursing home as an old man, who does not have an independent thinking only pushes him to go in search of a favorable ‘home’. One of the key themes of the plot, as it starts from the elderly Jacob is the conflicts that arose because one’s need for independence and self worth. As Jacob is in his nineties, and in the final lap of the death race, he feels that his old age is restricting him from doing anything independently, with the staffs taking him for granted. “Age is a terrible thief. Just when you think you're getting the hang of it, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back.” (Gruen 12). He thinks because of his old age only, the staffs restrict him. Jacob gets angry as the staffs keep opening his window blinds, without ever asking him about his preference. Jacob totally opposes this way of treating him like a child, and wants his opinion to be heard and more importantly wants to go and explore various places in the outside world. As Jacob recollects the story in flashback, the readers can understand how he has lived an events filled life in a rowdy and action filled circus atmosphere of Benzini Brothers. After losing both his parents in an accident and with no home to live, Jacob’s plan to end his life leads to him to a circus, which only turns out to be his favored ‘home’. There, he gets the job of a Animal Veterinarian and gets involved in various fun filled but at the same time torturous circus activities. Although, he faces tough times there, his life gets started because of the circus, as he marries Marlena, when both of them leave the circus after the death of the main antagonist, August. Now, in his final years in the nursing home, one day Jacob waits for a family member to take him to a circus “with every fiber of his being, craving the familiar sights and smells of that pivotal summer of `31, the roustabouts, the kinkers, the rubes, the animals.” (“Water for Elephants: A Novel Reviews”). No one comes to pick up him, however that does not stop him from going to the circus, thus exhibiting his wishes to have an independent thinking and also explore places in outside world, at the same time fulfilling his wish to find his ‘home’. After losing everything from his parents to his home, Jacob wounds up in Benzini Brothers. However, the Benzini Brothers circus was also not a great place to live, as it was the second-rate at best, trailing behind the leader Ringling Brothers. Ringling Brothers was a real circus company which made a huge impact in the late 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. They toured throughout America and ran shows to packed crowds, even during the Great Depression period. The author of Water for Elephants, Susan Gruen has made a lot of references to this circus in her fictional work, thus reflecting or incorporating certain aspects from the time, the novel was set. Thus, one of the key themes explored in the novel is the life in the circus during the depression. For that, Gruen seems to have done extensive research, as she has included many circus practices as well as the terms used in circuses at that time. Many of the circus related terms like grifters, roustabouts, cooch tent, revenooers, rubes, etc was used in a widespread manner. In addition, the author has also included photos of actual circuses as well as various circus performers throughout the novel. “Black-and-white photographs of real American circus scenes from the first half of the century are interspersed throughout the novel, and they brilliantly evoke the dignified power contained in the quieter moments of this unusual brotherhood.” (Judd). All these aspects clearly reflect the time in which the novel is set, and also gives the readers a ringside view of the circus life and the related practices of 1930s. Although, this novel can be viewed as the standard story of “boy meets girl”, it gets elevated due to its charmed, colorful and at the same time convoluted circus setting. Even the animals that were featured as part of the circus had their own personality and certain interesting habits. For example, the Rosie, the elephant, always wanted lemonade drinks and has no interest in the normal water. When one focuses on Benzini Brothers circus, the other theme of how it’s functioning reflects capitalistic leanings, is clearly visible. Capitalism was a main concern area in the 1930s, with many pointing out that proliferation of capitalism and accumulation of wealth in few hands led to the Great Depression. “Free market capitalism and the orthodox finance of the gold standard had led to disaster in the early 1930s” (Temin 2). However, the form of capitalism visible in the novel, Water for Elephants was more of personal nature. The main characters exhibited capitalistic streaks, without caring for the human sufferings. For example, the handlers sewed a new sequined headdress for Rosie, the elephant and fed the llamas with good food, while the men died of starvation in various parts of America during the Depression. “Gruen's circus, with its frankly mercantile morality, symbolizes the warped vigor of capitalism. No matter how miserable or oppressed, the performers love the manufacturing of illusion.” (Judd). From the above analysis, it is clear that Water for Elephants can be considered for the tag of “The Great American Novel”. As mentioned early, if a novel incorporates cultural and other elements of a particular time, during which the novel is set, thereby aptly reflecting various aspects of life at that time, it can be considered as “The Great American Novel”. Starting from Jacob’s living in the current cultural element of Old age home, conflicts that arose because of independent thinking to inclusion of language and other cultural elements while describing the circus and how the life in the circus had capitalistic leanings, the novel fulfilled the key criterions for the tag of “The Great American Novel”. Set in the somber times of the Depression, the life of Jacob in the circus was a ‘collage’ of happiness as well as torture, with the death of the antagonist leading him to a better life. However, he again searched for his ‘home’ and happiness in the final stages of his life, and that ‘home’ turned out to be the Circus again. Works Cited Gruen, Sara. Water for Elephants: a Novel. Algonquin Books, 2006. Judd, Elizabeth. “Book Review: 'Water for Elephants'.” The New York Times, 12 July 2007. Web. 4 May 2011. O'Connor, William Van. “Why Huckleberry Finn Is Not The Great American Novel.” College English, 17.1 (1955): 6-10 Shanas, Ethel. “The Family as a Social Support System in Old Age.” The Gerontologist, 19.2 (1979): 169-174 Temin, Peter. “Socialism and Wages in the Recovery from the Great Depression in the United States and Germany.” The Journal of Economic History, 50 (1990): 297- 307 “Water for Elephants: A Novel Reviews.” Amazon Kindle Movie Reviews, n. d. Web. 4 May 2011. Read More