American and Canadian author, Sara Gruen, stated, “Life is the most spectacular show on earth,” in her novel Water for Elephants which follows Jacob Jankowski in two contrasting periods of his lifetime. Water for Elephants bounces between the 1930’s when Jacob is youthful and what the reader can assume to be present day when Jacob is aging. During the time when Jacob is older, he is in a home for the elderly, although he desperately wants to be anywhere but there and refuses all the help offered to him. Author Sara Gruen does a phenomenal job of transitioning fluently between the old and new times. Effortlessly, the reader can follow along with the story without being obfuscated as to what time period they are reading about and how it is relevant …show more content…
Ornery and stubborn in his old age, Jacob gets exceedingly agitated when another man in the home speaks about once being in the circus and carrying water for the elephants. Jacob becomes infuriated at the man and goes on such a tirade that nurses remove him from the company of others. Angered and aggravated by someone or something, this is how Jacob spends much of his time at the nursing home. Often Jacob’s nurse, who tries to help him and do things for him, piques scrutiny and anger from Jacob, who does not want anyone’s help and wishes to do everything by himself. As the story progresses, it opens up to tell of Jacob’s past life with the circus, but intermittently loops back around to the present time, almost as if Jacob is recalling about old times. I commend the way that Gruen includes both the past times and present within Water for Elephants to make the storyline well-rounded and …show more content…
Not once throughout the novel is the reader able to predict what turn the story will take next. While reading Water for Elephants, the story intrigued me and I could never figure out beforehand what was going to happen. The characters within the story make the storyline even more compelling because of their backstories and personalities. An overseer for the animal department of the circus, August is the most anomalous character of the entire novel and possesses a very abominable personality. An unorthodox character because of his actions and unpredictability, one minute August has his own actions composed and the next he acts ludicrous and heinous. Marlena is August’s wife, but the reader has no knowledge of that until later in the story and simply has to guess. Being a performer with the circus, Marlena and her backstory about why she joined up with the circus is the most appealing one out of all the characters. Running away from her domicile because she did not want to marry the man that her parents set up for her, Marlena has the most interesting affiliation to the circus life. The most alluring character of the whole story, the reader can never be sure what Jacob is going to do next; he certainly gets himself into some eccentric
319). When faced with the thought of losing Rosie, Jacob’s immense love for her caused him to impulsively keep her. Similarly to the situation with Marlena, Jacob’s love-driven character made extremely impulsive decisions, without thinking of consequences. Jacob didn’t think of what would happen to Rosie or his family when he accepted the deal, which could have caused an even greater conflict. The theme of love driving the characters’ decisions is also portrayed by Jacob’s love for the circus. Sara Gruen (2006) ends the novel with elderly Jacob running away with the circus because “for this old man, this is home,” (p.331). Despite his elderly age, Jacob spontaneously decided to run away with the circus yet again. Jacob’s love for the setting of the circus, which he referred to as his beloved home, influenced his unpredictable decision to run away. In the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, love is a powerful force that determines the characters’ actions, which is demonstrated through the use of characterization and
Alexandra is a hard working young lady and will do anything to make her father proud. When the drought and depression struck three years later, Alexandra's determination to keep the farm allows her to persevere. Many families, including Carl Linstrum's, sell their farms and move away. However, Alexandra believes in the promise of the country and staying true to her father's word. She convinces her brothers to re-mortgage their farm and buy more land. She also convinces them to look for more innovative farming techniques.
Both awe-inspiring and indescribable is life, the defined “state of being” that historians and scholars alike have been trying to put into words ever since written language was first created. And in the words of one such intellectual, Joshua J. Marine, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful”. Essentially, he is comparing life to a bowl of soup. Without challenges or hardship into which we can put forth effort and show our potential, it becomes a dull and flavorless broth. But for characters in novels like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the difficulties and trials that we all must face can transfigure the mundane liquid mixture of existence into a vibrant and fulfilling gumbo. The protagonists of these works are two strong-willed and highly admirable women, who prevail in the face of overwhelming odds stacked in everyone’s favor but theirs. In their trying periods of isolation brought about by cold and unwelcoming peers, particularly men, they give their lives meaning by simply pushing forward, and living to tell the tale.
People has times that they are looking forward to. The times such as childhood, schooling help lead us through our life. While this way of thinking has many positive side, we forget the appreciation of all details of the moments. We see the moments in Thornton Wilder's play “Our Town”. This play takes us to a small town in New England and we see how simple it is, to the point where we may get bored to our lives. After looking through the events in the play we might have see as big and important described as relatively simple and straightforward, we begin to question how important that these events are in our life. Not like Emily realize how much of life was ignored until death. But after death, she can see how much everyone goes through life without noticing the events that are occurring all the time.
At first she was a little confused but then began to be more patient. The Character arc changes throughout the story in very slight ways. At first the narrator sounds playful and childish. However, getting towards the end of the story, the narrator becomes more patient and a little more mature.
As the story progresses, he notices the interactions between the girls, and he even determines the hierarchy of the small dynamic. He observes their actions and how they affect the patrons of the business. Rather, how the other people view the girl's actions. His thought process is maturing and he starts to see things as an adult might see them.
I think Ray Bradbury sums all this up in a quote from the book: "Life
...you're bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course, but its decades before you admit it” (Gruen 5). Here Jacob is saying that people like to live in and think about their past ages and try to hold on to those instead of living in the present. People lose sight of what’s actually in front of them and usually waste their life way. Life passes to quickly; people need to just go after what they want so that they can live happily with a life filled with no regrets.
Only through the eyes of the innocent will the world be seen as it is, not how it should be. So often we are driven by our desires to have the best and to be the best, that we lose sight of what we have become, of who we have become. Our main concern is the welfare of ourselves and that of our kin. As time progress and technology tests its limits, mankind will follow suit, however, where will we draw the line in losing touch with our humanity? In the short story written by George Saunders “The Semplica Girl Diaries”, it tells of a middle-class family of six in the near distant future that is making ends meet but strives to provide a more accommodating life whilst competing with a family that is well off. The story is told by the father as he
Humans have believed this since the beginning of time, valuing their survival and existence over animals, nature, and anything else that came in its way. Annie Dillard is an American author who has written many award-winning pieces in various genres, as well as been awarded a Pulitzer Prize. In Annie Dillard’s creative non-fiction essay “The Wreck of Time”, she discusses the effects of human life on the planet and human population within the last century. She introduces the idea that “there must be something ultimately heroic about our time, something that sets it above all those other times” (Dillard 56). This idea is that people value human life that is spent here on earth and the lives of everyone around them. People believe that each century becomes more and more valuable and impactful towards the progression of our society. People see that in ‘those other times’ people were not as smart as they are now and didn’t contribute as much to the world. Due to this, the value of human life only continues to increase as the impact that one human being can contribute also increases. During one’s life they will form connections and relationships that they value and find to be extremely important within their personal
Teddy is a character that understood how important his imagination is, but is too young to put this understanding into words. Teddy’s ambition and imagination is being ruined by his aunt and uncle so that he becomes like them. His imagination, which is the key to his future in society, is now reformed. Clearly, life has never been easy for anyone in this world. Instead, it is filled with plenty of obstacles. Children are known as the future generation, but there will be no future when adults allow them to become corrupt. It is important to not allow what adults think is normal to affect the ever-growing minds of children, for, they will only be influenced and become violent, unimaginative, fearful
Both of these passages highlight the challenges people face every day. From the hustle and bustle of young to middle-age life, to the hustle and struggle of elder life.
The main characters in the movie are Lilli and Fred. They are a divorced couple who play Katherina and Petruchio. They are a divorced couple who are very unpleasant to each other. The clash on stage as well as off stage. This helps her relate better to her character. In the play, Petruchio is very nice to Katherina before they get married. He tells her that he can put up with her and that he was born to tame her. Once they are married, everything changes. He begins to act very mean, which is ultimately the reason for her change. In the movie, Fred does many things that upset Lilly and make her want to quit the play before the performance is even over. However at he end, Lilli and Fred End up reconciling, as do Katherina and Pertruchio. If watched closely, the viewers can see her pull out a black book from his coat and throw it away. This would be a sign that things may be shifting for them, in their favor. Fred begins treating Lilly very badly before they go ...
Elephants should not be killed because they are one of the main reasons that people visit the foreign land of Africa. Africa is incredibly hot and is not the most intriguing place to go on your vacation. If there were no elephants the amount of tourists would significantly decrease. Twenty eight percent of all tourist come to see the elephants. In the movie “Ivory Wars” the narrator says “ One of the few attractions for tourists is the African elephants that run wild and free across the vast plains of the continent of Africa.” When the amount of tourists decrease so does the money that they pay to see the elephants at a safari. Africa is obviously does not have the strongest economy to begin with and without the elephants to bring in tourists the continent of Africa will fall apart. Elephants are exotic and amazing to see, and without them would there really be a reason to visit Africa?
Marla becomes narrator’s obsession. She is his power animal; she hides in every corner of his head. She is his inner child and she is his greatest fear to be thrown away from the place where he feels much better than others. She understands that well and says her conditions. She will not tell on the narrator, but he has to be silent as well. They are very similar in their behavior and this fact makes them closer to each other. Both of them belong to the same cast of liars. The narrator hates her and...