In Water For Elephants, Sara Gruen examines circus life in the 1930s through the eyes of the main character, Jacob. Jacob is a college student who, after the death of his parents, leaves home to join a circus. During his time with the circus, Jacob experiences and witnesses violence. As Jacob sees animals and humans being abused, he, unlike most characters, takes a different perspective and does not commit or join the cycle of violence. Contrastingly, August, the main antagonist, is a main contributor to the cycle. Throughout the course of the novel, many characters, including August, use violence. The end of the novel and August’s death, however, suggest that violence leads to more violence unless, like Jacob, one has the strength to recognize
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Jacob realizes the extent of violence in the circus from when he first starts working with the circus animals, as they are treated negligently by August, the equestrian director. Instead of feeding the cats healthy meat, August feeds them meat off a dead horse he shot earlier. Also, to make the animals behave properly, he repetitively hits them. Furthermore, the setting of the novel takes place during the Great Depression, the poorest decade of the twentieth century. Because of the terrible economic situation of the time, the circus begins to reach a nadir, and consequently, starts to discard sick or old workers by red-lighting them, or throwing them off of the train. This starts to happen near the end of the novel when the circus begins to lose more money than ever before. Additionally, violence occurs outside of the circus. In the beginning of the novel, Jacob, August, and Marlena, one of the circus’ star performers and August’s wife, experience violence outside of the circus confines one night at a dinner during a gun raid. In the midst of the gun raid, Jacob and Marlena become separated from August and share a kiss after Jacob protects her. This event demonstrates the pervasiveness of violence during the time period and the effect its effect on the plot of the …show more content…
When Jacob almost kills August it is because of August’s abuse towards Marlena. August continually beats and pressures Marlena during the novel which encourages Jacob to kill August for Marlena’s safety. Jacob is in love with Marlena and mentions that “August is not the only one consumed by thoughts of Marlena” (280). August’s past actions seem to lead to more violent acts, since his violent treatment of others, including the animals, follows him through his time with the circus, and consequently, results in his death. In addition, Uncle Al, the ringleader of the circus, commits many acts of violence. For instance, Walter and Camel, Jacob’s roomates, are red-lighted by the orders of Uncle Al because Jacob will not reunite Marlena and August after Marlena leaves him because of his abusive nature. Uncle Al’s violent actions, similar to August, contribute to his death. These violent acts occur in a cycle, where one occurrence of violence leads to
Jacob realizes the extent of violence in the circus from when he first starts working with the circus animals, as they are treated negligently by August, the equestrian director. Instead of feeding the cats healthy meat, August feeds them meat off a dead horse he shot earlier. Also, to make the animals behave properly, he repetitively hits them. Furthermore, the setting of the novel takes place during the Great Depression, the poorest decade of the twentieth century. Because of the terrible economic situation of the time, the circus begins to reach a nadir, and consequently, starts to discard sick or old workers by red-lighting them, or throwing them off of the train. This starts to happen near the end of the novel when the circus begins to lose more money than ever before. Additionally, violence occurs outside of the circus. In the beginning of the novel, Jacob, August, and Marlena, one of the circus’ star performers and August’s wife, experience violence outside of the circus confines one night at a dinner during a gun raid. In the midst of the gun raid, Jacob and Marlena become separated from August and share a kiss after Jacob protects her. This event demonstrates the pervasiveness of violence during the time period and the effect its effect on the plot of the …show more content…
When Jacob almost kills August it is because of August’s abuse towards Marlena. August continually beats and pressures Marlena during the novel which encourages Jacob to kill August for Marlena’s safety. Jacob is in love with Marlena and mentions that “August is not the only one consumed by thoughts of Marlena” (280). August’s past actions seem to lead to more violent acts, since his violent treatment of others, including the animals, follows him through his time with the circus, and consequently, results in his death. In addition, Uncle Al, the ringleader of the circus, commits many acts of violence. For instance, Walter and Camel, Jacob’s roomates, are red-lighted by the orders of Uncle Al because Jacob will not reunite Marlena and August after Marlena leaves him because of his abusive nature. Uncle Al’s violent actions, similar to August, contribute to his death. These violent acts occur in a cycle, where one occurrence of violence leads to