Jacob Jankowski tells his story through his eyes as an elderly adult in the book Water For Elephants. Jacob went through a very tough time in his life in a matter of months, which changed his life in many ways. Jacob loses his parents at the end of his college career, and because of this he just happens to stumble upon a circus by jumping a train. Jacob's life has gone from completely perfect to upside down in a matter of 24 hours. Jacob receives the job as the circus vet, but has to work hard to earn it. During his time in the circus Jacob is pushed around, made fun of, but most importantly, falls in love. Marlena becomes Jacob's focus for the duration of his time with circus, however, Marlena is married to August, a man who is the head of the circus. Jacob and Marlena share a common interest though, Rosie. Rosie is the loveable elephant mentioned throughout the book who is very loyal to both Jacob and Marlena. Needless to say, Jacob has experienced many ups and downs throughout his life, and his children should take the time to listen to his advice and learn the importance out of a...
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
Soon he finds that this is the Benzini Brothers Circus train and earns a job cleaning the animals' manure. When the unstable and violent owner of the traveling circus, August, learns that Jacob is a veterinarian, he hires him to train his new main attraction, Rosie the elephant. Jacob soon becomes a part of August's circus family. Both Jacob and Marlena, August’s wife and also the elephant performer, form a bond with Rosie. Jacob and Marlena fell in love through their work together on the act with Rosie, and Marlena had growing contempt for August and his violent ways.
Water, like age, continues without stopping until reaching an obstacle which ends the flow completely. In The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay, Peekay, the protagonist and narrator, retells his life story starting at age five. Courtenay separates Peekay’s life into three sections divided by books, representing childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Each section of his journey corresponds to a cascade in the waterfall mind trick revealing that waterfalls are a metaphor for his own life, ultimately suggesting that his life and the mind trick end together.
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.
In Water for Elephants, the story is told through Jacob Jankowski at two different parts in his life: twenty-three year old Jacob who is out there exploring the world and, ninety-three year old Jacob who feels like he is wasting away his life in a nursing home. Water for Elephants is Gruen’s third book, it became one of the New York Times best sellers, it’s also available in forty-four different languages and it’s now a motion picture (Sara Gruen). Throughout the novel the reader is brought through both Jacob’s happy memories and ones that he wishes he could forget which shows its impact on the reader, a sense of catharsis and its social significance.
Water for Elephants is set in two different worlds; the first being present day times in a modern nursing home, and the second being in the early 1930s on the moving cars of a travelling circus train. The story alternates between the perspectives of 93-year-old Jacob Jankowski and his younger, less experienced, 23-year-old self. The book lets the reader experience the brash and unforgiving atmosphere inside the big top of an American circus during the Great Depression. It also illustrates the joys of belonging to the “Greatest Show on Earth.” For the characters, life is not usually easy. Everyday brings a distinctive threat, whether it is the constant fear of being ‘red-lighted,’ the inevitable panic caused by a Prohibition raid, or the anger caused by frequently being shortchanged of a month’s pay.
On the surface, Jonas is like any other eleven-year-old boy living in his community. He seems more intelligent and perceptive than many of his peers, and he thinks more seriously than they do about life, worrying about his own future as well as his friend Asher’s. He enjoys learning and experiencing new things: he chooses to volunteer at a variety of different centers rather than focusing on one, because he enjoys the freedom of choice that volunteer hours provide. He also enjoys learning about and connecting with other people, and he craves more warmth and human contact than his society permits or encourages. The things that really set him apart from his peers—his unusual eyes, his ability to see things change in a way that he cannot explain—trouble him, but he does not let them bother him too much, since the community’s emphasis on politeness makes it easy for Jonas to conceal or ignore these little differences. Like any child in the community, Jonas is uncomfortable with the attention he receives when he is singled out as the new Receiver, preferring to blend in with his friends.
John and Rawlins find work on the ranch of Don Hector, and John soon proves himself a remarkable hand and shows a great deal of understanding for horses. Impressed by his knowledge, Don Hector puts him in charge of breeding the ranch’s horses. While on the job, John is introduced to and becomes infatuated with Hector’s daughter Alejandra.
The Maus series of books tell a very powerful story about one man’s experience in the Holocaust. They do not tell the story in the conventional novel fashion. Instead, the books take on an approach that uses comic windows as a method of conveying the story. One of the most controversial aspects of this method was the use of animals to portray different races of people. The use of animals as human races shows the reader the ideas of the Holocaust a lot more forcefully than simply using humans as the characters.
The impressions of Jacob are from many different types of characters in the book. There are random people that we don’t even get the name of, Jacob’s own mother, those that love Jacob and even those whom Jacob love. All these impressions are woven on a common thread, that all human being’s have a need to break isolation and cherish attention, love and concreteness.
I see many people as I wander through the streets, yet I can only hear silence. I see couples getting into a restaurant, order, check their smartphones, eat, and I wonder why they do not look up, face each other and genuinely communicate. What I perceive, are men and women living not with, but next to each other. This is exactly what I imagined when I read Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”. A couple waiting to catch a train and as they sit and drink some beers, they start talking about Jig’s pregnancy and the option of abortion. However, all I can hear is silence because they simply do not speak the same language. They are both living in different worlds filled with divergent ideologies and opinions. As a result, the words do not come across. The American, though, does everything in his power to convince Jig of conducting an abortion, in which he seems to succeed at first. But as the story develops, the divided and childlike Jig transforms into an independent woman, who possesses an internal strength, determination and a mind of her own. Hence, I am going to argue that Jig will not have the abortion and will eventually leave the American.
The opening scene of Jacob’s Room depicts Mrs. Flanders and Archer searching for a young Jacob along the beach, already showing that the titular character is detached and separate from those around him. Instead of walking with his mother and brother on the shore, Jacob is more interested in the escapades of a crab in a tidal pool, an early indication of his future pursuit of knowledge and his penchant for isolation. Aside from this first mention, Jacob’s biological family is mentioned very rarely throughout the remainder of the novel, as Woolf focuses on his social and academic family instead. However, Jacob’s tendency to distance himself from many of his friends probably stems from the slightly distracted air of his mother, who seems to love and care for him but at the same time is scatter-brained and somewhat unaware of her surroundings. Jacob i...
An elephant may seem to be a silly topic to be writing an honors thesis over. To a lot of people the elephant is a mammal they can only find at the zoo or in a circus. It is not something to be treasured and loved. It is a machine to move logs across the country or to fight wars. It is something to stare at in adoration and wonder. It is something they never touch. They might as well just be something of fairy tales and stories. The truth about elephants is that they are truly magical creatures that are of fairy tales and stories. They are creatures who have been on Earth for millions of years. They lived when dinosaurs still walked the Earth and continue to survive even today. People need to understand the importance of these remarkable creatures. They also need to understand the value that these animals play with thousands of peoples lives, including my own. They portray a symbol of strength, hope, knowledge and thousands of other things. They have been depicted in gods and religions. Most importantly, to me they are a symbol of love and adoration. They remind me of a time when my father was still with me. This is why I am writing my thesis. I plan to discuss the importance of elephants to many different religions and cultures.
What do you think about when you hear the word Africa? How about the word safari? Most people tend to think about elephants or giraffes. In this paper I will tell you many important facts about elephants: how they live, their appearance, and many other interesting facts about them. There are two different kinds of elephants; the African elephant and the Asian elephant (also known as the Indian elephant). The African elephant is the larger of the two.
"Shooting an Elephant" is perhaps one of the most anthologized essays in the English language. It is a splendid essay and a terrific model for a theme of narration. The point of the story happens very much in our normal life, in fact everyday. People do crazy and sometimes illegal moves to get a certain group or person to finally give them respect. George Orwell describes an internal conflict between his personal morals and his duty to his country to the white man's reputation. The author's purpose is to explain the audience (who is both English and Burmese) about the kind of life he is living in Burma, about the conditions, circumstances he is facing and to tell the British Empire what he think about their imperialism and his growing displeasure for the imperial domination of British Empire.