Water for Elephants is similar to... The 400 Blows!

First, in both pieces of literature the main characters must accept that their parents are lost, and learn to deal with this loss. Antoine’s parents are irresponsible, and they don’t trust him, or care about him. He takes care of his own life, and becomes an independent young man. Jacob Jankowski literally loses his parents, a car accident snatching them from his life. After his death, he falls into a state of confusion and silent depression. He sees a train, and “snaps out of a stupor…there is no home to go back to” (Gruen 24), so he decides to hitch a ride. Jacob chooses this way to fend for himself in the world, leaving behind anything familiar to him.

Also in both works, lost youth leads to wisdom. In The 400 Blows, Antoine learns the consequences of stealing and living a life of crime. By the end of the film, Antoine is older, and changes his ways, even returning a stolen typewriter, and owning up to his actions, realizing their impacts. Water for Elephants shows gaining maturity with age on a much larger scale. The book changes viewpoints from Jacob at age 21, to Jacob at 93. In both works, both characters learn about maturing with age, but they learn different lessons. While Antoine’s life improved with age, Jacob’s life declined since age thirty. Jacob claims that “age is a terrible thief. Just as you’re getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back” (Gruen 12). Unfortunately, Jacob learns too late in life the value of youth and good health.

Second Conflict in Water for Elephants

More conflicts Jacob Jankowski encounters in Water for Elephants have to do with his parents’ deaths. One day during class, Dean Wilkins, a dean at Cornell, tells Jacob “Son, there was an accident… It was instant. There was nothing they could do” (Gruen 16). Immediately after he discovers his parents are dead, he is asked by the police superintendent to go to the coroner to identify his parents’ bodies. First Jacob had to find out that he’d never see his parents again, then he is forced to see his dead, bloody, torn apart parents. This brings Jacob immense grief, and complete inner conflict. Even after he runs away to the circus, he is unable to talk about his parents at all, or his past life for that matter. When asked about where he’s from, Jacob responds “Nowhere…for Christ’s sake would you just leave me alone?” (Gruen 144). He cannot deal with the demons of his past, and this tears him apart.

While little good came from the death of Jacob’s parents, Jacob did learn some important things about himself. First, he learned how much he values family. This situation truly shows how people can’t appreciate what they have until it’s gone. His appreciation of family is shown again when he is 93 and in a nursing home. He thinks of his dead wife, Marlena: “Dear Lord, how I miss that woman” (108). Also, Jacob discovered an angry side of himself that needed to be controlled. He unconsciously makes an effort to distract himself by jumping on a mysterious train (Gruen 24). Little does he know, this train is for Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a circus show. Not only does this help him recover from his parents’ death, but it puts his life on a whole new path, teaching him the wonders of circus life.

Water for Elephants: Growing through Conflict

Jacob Jankowski faces many conflicts throughout Water for Elephants, as one could expect any protagonist would. A conflict Jacob encounters involves his boss, a schizophrenic named August, and his beautiful, performer wife, Marlena. Jacob falls in love with her at first sight. He immediately notices her “delicate features, pale as porcelain” (Gruen 72). August is very protective of Marlena, a well-known fact among the circus folk. Jacob’s roommate, a dwarf named Kinko, points out “that’s just somewhere you don’t wanna go… he’s the meanest son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever met” (Gruen 157), as Jacob glances over at Marlena repeatedly. One night, Jacob kisses Marlena (Gruen 153) and makes everything more complicated. Later, Marlena admits “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you” (195). These two are destined to be together; now they only have to get past a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of violent behavior.

This conflict helps Jacob to grow in many ways. First of all, Jacob has his first experience falling in love. When watching her in her act with her horses, Jacob thinks of how he is “filled to overflowing, bursting with love” (Gruen 202). Also, Jacob learns about desperation, and how it can make people do things that would endanger their own lives. August hits Marlena in a fit of rage, which of course enrages Jacob (Gruen 246). Later on, Jacob takes a knife to August’s room, with the intent of slitting his throat in his sleep (295 Gruen). Fortunately, Jacob decides not to, but the whole event teaches Jacob to control his extreme emotions, and not stoop down to the level of his enemies.

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Comparing Outside Reading to Class Literature

First of all, Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen, is similar to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. They both use flashbacks as a way to reveal different areas of the characters’ lives. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, flashbacks were used to show Oskar’s memories of his dead father, and to show the relationship they had. In Water for Elephants, the every other chapter shows Jacob Jankowski’s life working for the circus. The chapter’s in between show Jacob’s life sixty years later in a nursing home. This technique is used to reveal a secret regarding the death of August. Jacob kept this secret his whole life, and says that “In seventy years, I’ve never told a blessed soul” (4).
Secondly, Water for Elephants is written in the same style as Black Boy. Although Water for Elephants, is not a memoir, it is written in the same format. Jacob is reflecting in the nursing home, talking about his life in the circus. Speaking about his life helps to explain his personality, and his anger in the nursing home. Jacob says “the ghosts of my past rattle around my vacuous present” (13). With so much bottled up emotion, one is bound to be angry, especially when they are pent up in a nursing home, with only their ghosts to haunt them.

Another Main Character

A second main character in Water for Elephants is August, the “equestrian director and superintendent of animals” (Gruen 126) for the Benzini Bros. Most Spectacular Show on Earth. August is Jacob’s boss. Jacob is not particularly fond of August, due to his erratic personality. For instance, August and his wife, Marlena, have a fancy dinner with Jacob. The entire evening, August conducts himself as a gentleman, treating everyone with hospitality. At the end of the night, August’s second personality reveals itself. Out of nowhere, “he stares at Marlena with such intensity he looks like a different man” (Gruen 94). August briefly becomes a terror. August’s malicious nature is revealed again when he shows Jacob how to feed the cats. He lets Jacob into Rex’s cage, a lion, with a bucket of meat. Rex is an angry creature and bites down hard on Jacob’s arm (85). Fortunately, Rex has no teeth; unfortunately, Jacob was unaware of this from the start. Even though Rex is toothless, “he’s 400 pounds and has claws” (Gruen 95), Marlena points out.
August does not appear to have any sort of conscious motivation. “He… has his moments” (Gruen 95) Marlena says. It seems that August has some typeof mental illness, most likely schizophrenia. He has no control of this vicious side of him, and this side only emerges sporadically. Perhaps something earlier on in August’s life made him the way he is, but so far in the story, this has not been revealed.

Main Characters: Water for Elephants

Jacob Jankowski is a son of two Polish immigrants, thus his last name. In Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen, Jacob is really the only main character. He attends Cornell, and is in his final year of veterinary studies. He is obsessed with one woman, Catherine, and is fairly certain that he is “the oldest male virgin on the face of the earth” (16). Along with his love of women, Jacob also loves animals. This love of animals is obviously what led him to veterinary school, along with his dream of working alongside his father, an established veterinarian.
In the very beginning of the book, during class, Jacob is informed that his parents were involved in a car accident, and “there was nothing anyone could do” (17). Jacob’s overwhelming grief keeps him from taking his finals, and graduating. Later he finds out that his parents have virtually no money. His father had been “taking payment in the form of beans and eggs for nearly two years” (19). During the height of the Depression, payments like these were common. Not only was Jacob now an orphan, but had no financial security whatsoever. This lack of confidence in his future and his sadness motivate him to run away. As he is running, he stumbles upon a train belonging to the “Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth” (28). Indeed, at twenty three, Jacob Jankowski ran away to the circus.

Why do people write memoirs?

People write memoirs because they have an urge to express themselves. Whether a person writes their own story to convey a message, mourn, celebrate, or vent their anger does not matter; all people who write memoirs end up with a deeper sense of who they are. By knowing who they are, they can decide what they will become, and have an insight into their future.

Telling our own stories teaches us to be introspective and to get our own lives into perspective. First of all, getting to know one’s self better is an important aspect of writing. Memoirs give people the power to understand themselves. Writing memoirs also helps people to see the big picture, and understand what goes on in their lives. Often when one has an issue, they can only focus on their feelings and reactions. When an event is set in front of someone on paper, everything becomes clear; none of their thoughts or prejudices can cloud the picture in front of them. Memoirs have the power to deepen one’s sense of self and their surroundings.

Richard's Hungers and the Effects

Richard hungers in different ways; physically, emotionally and intellectually. First of all, the most obvious of his hungers is physical. Richard often mentions his intense starving, and it overtakes him. He says, “…I knew hunger, biting hunger, hunger that made my body aimlessly restless, hunger that kept me on edge, that made my temper flare…” (Wright 103). This hunger savaged his body, as well as his emotions. For example, Richard says “There were many days when I spoke to no one except my mother. My life was falling to pieces…” (Wright 173). Richard lacked love in his life. Without affection from anyone accept his mother, Richard became extremely emotionally distraught. Lastly, Richard hungered for knowledge. He had so many questions about why black people and white people had to live together this way, and his questions were never answered. Richard notices that “As the outside world grew more meaningful, I became more concerned, tense; and my classmates and my teachers would say: ‘Why do you ask so many questions?’ “ (Wright 169). Richard ached to know how the world around him functioned, but nobody could explain a thing to him.
In all of the above quotes, Richard explained how these hungers affected him. His physical hunger made him short-tempered. Richard’s emotional hunger made him feel lonely, while his intellectual hungers made him curious. The effects of Richard’s physical and emotional hungers were both negative, and made his life almost intolerable. Richard’s curiosity, however, forced him to strive to learn and educate himself, so he could one day interpret the world around him. Richard had a thirst for knowledge that needed to be satisfied, and this need helped him to grow.