Animals are frequently used in literature to capture the reader’s attention and cause them to fall in love with the featured creature. In such cases, whether or not they talk, grant wishes, or save the day, the work is better remembered for the unforgettable creatures that will remain in the hearts of the audience forever. This featuring of animals is prominent in Kenneth Oppel’s Half Brother and Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants. Both authors have incorporated the use of dynamic animal characters into their stories to contrast their main characters. The highly improbable circumstances that take place during the novels create a definitive relationship between the animals and humans. Oppel and Gruen have both constructed a beautiful and imperative relationship between the two species that carries the weight of the story on its shoulders in their own unrealistic realities. In Half Brother and Water for Elephants, a theme manifests itself through animals with human characteristics, humans with animalistic characteristics, and the great divide that ultimately separates man and beast.
Kenneth Oppel’s Half Brother features an energetic and loveable baby chimpanzee named Zan that has been adopted by a scientist to live with him and his family. Unlike most animals that come to live with a family, Zan is not a pet; rather he is treated as a member of the family, a younger brother to the protagonist, Ben Tomlin. Project Zan is a new experiment that aims to teach the chimpanzee American Sign Language. In order for the experiment to succeed, the chimp had to be domesticated and humanized so he could learn and develop in his new environment. The training process sometimes included restraining Zan in a high chair to force him to cooperate just ...
... middle of paper ...
...ar, Ed. Scott. "Water for Elephants Characters." Enotes.com. Enotes.com, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Interview of Kenneth Oppel. LifeHack Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. .
Works Consulted
"Kenneth Oppel Author." Kenneth Oppel Author. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2014.
"Bio | Sara Gruen, Bestselling Author." Sara Gruen Bestselling Author. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Shirai, Sumiko. "Recent Books- Animal Human Relations." Academic One File. N.p., July-Aug. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
"Elephantine Uplift." The Bookseller, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Judd, Elizabeth. "Book Review: Water for Elephants." NY Times. The New York Times, 12 July 2007. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Ness, Patrick. "Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 22 Jan. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
So far this book was a nice little surprise. Like previously stated, upon picking this book up one would think that the author is crazy for writing about the lifestyles of elephants. But when it is actually explored and read its written style and messages make for this book to be taken in very easily and fluently. This language used is at the perfect level, and the subject level is complex enough that the reader has to make connections themselves or else they will become confused almost guaranteed.
Overall, there is a strong sense of confinement in both novels, The Help, and Water for Elephants. The characters are confined through laws, bounds, expectations and silence. The authors state to the reader that, in order for humans to grow they must be free, and not confined. Subsequently, confinement leads to pain and suffering.
Singer, Peter. "Animal Interests." The New York Review of Books, March 28, 1985, Vol. 32, No. 5.
Deborah L. Duffy, Yuying Hsu, James A. Serpell ,Applied Animal Behavior Science - 1 December 2008 (Vol. 114, Issue 3, Pages 441-460, DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2008.04.006)
Love is a very powerful emotion which is achieved by overcoming many hurdles and acting with courage. This bravery can be shown towards anything and anyone, including humans and animals. In Sara Gruen’s Water For Elephants, courage is a key aspect for characters that portray their love for other individuals and the animals. The characters, Jacob and Marlena love each other bravely, despite knowing the consequences for their actions. Not only does Marlena love Jacob, she also portrays affection for her horses as she protects them heroically. However, she is not the only one that admires the animals. Jacob is also fond of the animals in the circus and portrays it with valour.
Gruen, Sara. Water for Elephants: a novel. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.: Algonquin Books, 2006. Print.
...animal waiting to be coaxed into the light”(835). The narrator describes Sonny as somebody he has never known. All the years apart has turned the two brothers into complete strangers. This moment between the two men is very important to the central theme of the story, which is the importance of a bond between brothers.
...inder of the cost of our lifestyle, for no one can live a totally cruelty free life. Cruelty will happen whether we wish it to or not—even people who abstain from animal sourced or tested foods and products will inevitably cause some cruelty by simply going about innocent daily life. For example, nearly any driver will eventually hit some animal no matter how hard they try to avoid it. The best one can do is make an honest effort to reduce his or her own impact on other creatures, whether that be by excluding animal products from their diet or seeking out foods from humane farms. Animal narratives are unique in their ability to allow the reader to experience these stories vicariously through the perspective of the animal, encouraging reflection and introspection on how humans treat others, and accordingly promoting empathy towards humankind’s fellow earthlings.
Elephants'." Studies in Short Fiction. 17.1 (Winter 1980): 75-77. Rpt. in Literature Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 75-77. Literature Resource Center. Gale.
Armstrong, Susan Jean, and Richard George Botzler. The Animal Ethics Reader. London ;New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation: The Definitive Classic of the Animal Movement. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009. Print.
Jane Goodall’s books, Through a Window, In the Shadow of Man, and The Chimpanzees of Gombe, recount her many years as an observer of chimpanzees and other species of monkeys. In Through a Window, she gives her account of thirty years with chimpanzees in the village of Gombe, off of Lake Tanganyika. During those thirty years with her son and husband, she observed and researched the chimpanzees with the help of other researchers. This book is a collection of the observations and data, in addition to the emotions she felt during this era. The theme of Through a Window is that chimpanzees have very human characteristics and feelings, and she proves this through her descriptions of love, war, power, and life in general.
Flynn, Clifton P. "Acknowledging the "Zoological Connection": A Sociological Analysis of Animal Cruelty." Society and Animals 9.1 (2001): 71-87. Print.
" Society & Animals 18.2 (2010): 183-203. Academic Search Premier -. EBSCO. Web. The Web. The Web.
When bred in captivity, animals are oblivious to their natural habitats and how to socially interact with their species. The article “Animals Used as Entertainment” lists rodeos, circuses, bullfighting, horse racing, cockfighting, dog fighting, and zoos as examples of the many ways animals are used in entertainment. Circuses and zoos are the two most relevant forms of animal mistreatment. Both of these are sources of entertainment for children and adults. Zoos declare that they are used for mostly educational purposes and preserving various species, but the reality is that they fall short on both (“Animals Used”).