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.