Water for Elephants

Title: Water for Elephants

Author: Sara Gruen

Date of Publication: April 9, 2007 Genre: Fiction

http://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/water-for-elephants Sara Gruen- Water for Elephants http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-water-for-elephants/quotes.html http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2018890,00.html September 13, 2010



Author Biographical Information
Sara Gruen lives in Chicago with her husband and three children. Water Elephants is her third major novel. She has also written Riding Lessons and Flying Changes. Sara is an award winning author and first began her career in 2004.

Setting: Historical Information
This novel is based in the ‘30s and during the depression. The circus travels all over the U.S. and every place brings new details and adventures to all of the crew.

Genre
The literary perceptions and insights are based on experience; all names, characters, etc. are either products of Sara Gruen’s imagination.

Plot Summary
Jacob Jankowski starts out the book in a nursing home as an old man. A circus that comes next door to his building reminds him of his history with the circus. He recalls his story when he was a 23 year old boy in 1932, almost having his license as a Veterinarian from the University of Cornell. After receiving horrible news, he finds himself traveling with a very famous circus, Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. He soon realizes he is surrounded by a beautiful woman, (the ring-leader’s wife) exotic people, and some freaks. With the depression being such a huge issue during this time, life wasn’t that glamorous. When one of their main horses becomes ill, they realize that it might cause them to go bankrupt, until Rosie the elephant comes along. This new addition leads Jacob to fall for the lovely Marlena and causes their relationship to grow to a romance level. But what keeps the suspense flowing is the fact that Marlena’s husband is very threatening to both of them and creates a lot of tension between them. Jacob ends up getting Marlena in kind of bad way, but they are both very happy and relieved. Jacob and Marlena grow old together and have children together.

Characters
Jacob Jankowski- Protagonist He is the main character of this story. He can honestly be described as two different characters because there are two different stories of him. He is an elderly man in an assisted living center due to a broken hip and shares his story of the days he was a circus veterinarian. He fell in love at this time and it was during the Great Depression.

Grumpy, unhappy, lonely, elderly

Happy, upbeat, young adult, romantic, determined, disciplined

Marlena- The main love interest She is the ring master, August’s, wife. She has a very special relationship with horses and then with Rosie the elephant. While she and Jacob travel with each other in the circus, they fall deeply in love.

Beautiful, talented, loving

August- Antagonist

August is the ring leader and is also Marlena’s husband. He is very abusive to his animals aboard and to the people including his spouse. He is later said to be a schizophrenic to excuse his behavior.

Abusive, rough, charming, violent

Rosie- The elephant Rosie is the elephant that the circus buys to help boost the entertainment. August treats her very poorly, but Jacob and Marlena love her dearly. She is thought to be useless at first, but they soon find out that she follows commands in polish which Jacob happens to speak.

Author's Style
Sara Gruen’s usual style is a more “technical-writing background.” Water for Elephants was her first historical fiction writing. She hated doing outlines and decided that this would be an out of the box project.

Setting
This novel is based in the ‘30s and during the depression. The circus travels all over the U.S. and every place brings new details and adventures to all of the crew.

The setting has three major places. The first is the Cornell University where Jacob goes to college in New York. He gets disturbing news here of his parents passing. The second location is the traveling circus around the United States of America. This is usually either on the train or under the circus tent. The third site is the nursing home where Jacob is elderly and is sharing his story of his circus days.

Themes
Independence- Jacob is 90 years old and feels like he is approaching the end. He doesn’t feel like he is that old though because of the way he is treated. Being treated like a child makes him feel helpless and his pride is falling.

Love- Love can make you do crazy things. It can push you to be your best and it could also destroy you. But while you’re in love, nothing else matters.

Symbols
Water- a symbol of purification

Train tracks- the paths of life you choose

Significance of the Opening/Closing Scenes
The book starts out with Jacob in the nursing home and introduces two different timelines. He tells his story of the circus through flashbacks. It kind of confuses me by the way it is told and in my opinion isn’t a good technique to use.

The ending scene really helps you to visualize what’s going on in the book. It paints pictures in your head, known as imagery. It was a little cheesy in my opinion because it was almost a “perfect” ending.

Memorable Quotes
1.	“In seventy years, I’ve never told a blessed soul” (pg. 4 Sara Gruen)

2.	“I never trusted myself. I was afraid I would let it slip” (pg. 10 Sara Gruen)

3.	“I don’t talk much about those days. Never did. I don’t know why- I worked on circuses for nearly 7 years, and if that isn’t fodder for conversation, I don’t know what it” (pg. 14 Sara Gruen)