Theme Of Symbolism In Water For Elephants

Just like the classics, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, many modern day novels have timeless qualities and a universal message. In the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Jacob Jankowski loses his parents due to a car crash in 1931 during the week of his final veterinary exams at Cornell College. In despair at the fact of the loss of his parents and not having a penny to his name, Jacob ends up walking to some train tracks miles from his home. As a train went chugging by Jacob took a split second of courage and jumped onto the train; which just so happens to be the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Throughout Jacob’s experience at the circus he falls in love with a married woman that …show more content…
A song for example could symbolize a person’s courage to do the extraordinary whereas for another it could represent a horrible memory. One of the main symbols in Water for Elephants is the circus itself as it shows an escape and excitement. The symbol is universal because of the fact that every person will always have a memory of a place that made you feel special. For Jacob, the circus was an escape of the hell he had been living in for the past few weeks. He finally felt a sense of belonging that he had been desperately missing. As he says: “for this man, this is home” (331). This quote is implying that Jacob considers the circus as a home even a haven because he has nowhere else to turn too. In the modern day, a movie could count as an “escape” because as soon as the film starts you are instantly engaged in a different world and the problems you have been facing are forgotten for the time being. Excitement is in the atmosphere at a circus; no matter how old you are, you feel like a kid again. Jacob started to recognize the change of emotions after the first three towns they performed at; it was then that he realized every person had the same goofy smile on as soon as they passed through the gates. It was the excitement of the unknown and the illusion of the circus certainly kept the audience entertained. When Jacob first landed on the train, one of the workers in the car said, “You didn’t just jump on a train, boy. You done jumped the Flying Squadron of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.” (28). This quote shows that just like the people excitingly watching the show, Jacob landed himself in an exciting new adventure. Symbols can express multiple different meanings and it will be ageless because the symbol will always hold the