WATER+FOR+ELEPHANTS



“The lad wants to work with animals. You want to carry water for elephants, I suppose?” (Gruen 57)

= About the Author: Sara Gruen =



Sarah Gruen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1969. Gruen received her degree English Literature at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Gruen is a supporter of many wildlife organizations, a supporter of animal rights, and is a lifelong lover of animals. Gruen has both a Canadian and American citizenship. Gruen currently lives in North Carolina with her husband, and has three sons. Among her more famous works are "Water for Elephants" and "Ape House". In this photograph, we see Sarah and her cat. Animals are the main focuses of many of her novels.

=Genre =
 * Romance Novel
 * Historical Novel
 * Fiction

=Setting =

 There are three settings in the book. One of the settings is at Cornell University. Jacob is going to Cornell to follow in his father's footsteps and become a veterinarian. Jacob doesn't finish school because his parents died in a car accident and Jacob looses everything. A different setting is at a nursing home when Jacob is old. This is where he is telling the story from. He doesn't like the nursing home because he isn't sick and can pretty much take care of himself. He also doesn't like the other residents in the home. Most of the story takes place at the third setting, a traveling circus.The circus is a huge part of the book. Jacob is the vet at the circus so he is always around the animals, especially the elephant, Rosie.



=Themes =

The themes in this book are very hard to miss. One of the major themes is __love__ . The love between Jacob and Marlena is strong especially because of their love of animals. Jacob and Marlena also love someone else. They both love Rosie, the elephant. They care for Rosie and make sure she is treated with the __respect__ and love she deserves.

Rosie is very __loyal__  to Jacob. He is kind and gentle with her and for that she stays loyal to him. She is a very intelligent elephant and she knows where her __trust__  should lie, with Jacob and not August because August abuses her.



= Summary of Story = The beginning of the story takes place at Jacob's (the protagonist) nursing home, but he's very bitter about the things that go on there, such as the food being just mush, the medicine he has to take, and now a newcomer (according to Jacob, he's a lawyer) who has taken away his table, his lady friends, and he lies about working in the circus by "carrying water for elephants". Jacob, having worked in a circus, calls him out and winds up getting in trouble and brought back to his own room by the nurse. Then Jacob begins to reminisce his past, which begins at a college. Cornell University, where Jacob spent some years at to become a vet for his fathers family business. However, right when graduation was in grasp, his parents got into an accident and perished. Jacob tried to continue with his education, but with the bank knocking on his door for all his parents things, he just couldn't.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> He wound up walking a far distance away only to climb a train and meet (what would be pretty much the main setting) the circus. The new character he meets is Camel, who then helps him get into the circus. Then Marlena (a performer who works with the animals) who Jacob becomes attracted to, and her husband August who also helps him get into the circus, by making him the new vet for the animals. Then Uncle Al, who is the ringmaster, lets Jacob stay as long as he takes care of the animals. Then Kinko, a performer who has a dog named Queenie, who Jacob stays within the same room. After meeting everyone, and getting settled in, August takes Jacob to the lions. He tricks Jacob into opening the wrong door thing, and the lion bites Jacob. Fortunately, the lion was toothless so Jacob only got bruised. However, it was the start of seeing the issues in August. The next big thing that happened was Uncle Al bought an elephant (Rosie) from a circus that went bankrupt. The elephant is then thought to be stupid by August. When Jacob, Marlena, and August go to an underground club, Jacob winds up dancing with Marlena, and then when the police show up and Jacob and Marlena are separated from August, Jacob kisses Marlena. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When Rosie then performs, Jacob notices that she’s actually really smart, because she was good with the crowd. However, when Rosie and Marlena perform, Marlena winds up getting hurt at the end. August then goes to hit Rosie for injuring Marlena, displaying more of his problems. Jacob gets a call to a cart, where he finds Camel sick, so Jacob calls a doctor to find that Camel has “Jake Leg” which is incurable and makes the person paralyzed. Jacob doesn’t want Camel to get red-lighted (which is when you get thrown off the train). They figure out that Rosie understands Polish so Rosie performed amazingly. When Marlena tries to surprise August with a party, it backfires and August snaps and hits Marlena. Jacob then attacks August, the fight gets broken up, but Uncle Al wants Marlena to get back together with August so he asks Jacob to help reunite them. What happens now? Read the book!

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Literary terms

__Flashback__- The entire story is a look at Jacob’s life in the circus.

__1st-Person__- It's told from Jacob's perspective

__Climax__- the climax is when August snaps and starts to attack Marlena, causing her to go to a hotel. = =

= Quotes =

//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Meant as a joke, and also is the title of the book //
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“The lad wants to work with animals. You want to carry water for elephants, I suppose?” (Gruen 57) **

//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This quote describes the relationship between Jacob and Marlena. Marlena was already married when she met Jacob but Jacob saved her from an abusive relationship and they fell in love. //
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“When two people are meant to be together, they will be together. It's fate.” (Gruen 273) **

//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It this quote Jacob is talking about how he didn't tell Marlena that Rosie killed August. //
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.” (Gruen 327) **

= Inference and Analysis =

Sometimes you have to put your past behind you. You need much courage to move on in life after a tragic accident.

After the deaths of Jacob's parents, he becomes lost until he joins the Benzini Brothers Circus. It's not here until Jacob finally finds the love that he has been longing for. Caring for the animals as a veterinarian, Jacob remembers the ideas of love and compassion.

= Round and Flat Characters =

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Jacob <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Round)- Jacob is an old man living in a nursing home telling his story of when he was a veterinarian in a circus. Jacob is very loving and caring person. He is very kind to other people and especially animals. He is also very strong willed. He isn’t afraid to stand up to August.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Marlena <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Round)- Marlena is the star performer in the circus and Jacob’s love interest. Even though Marlena is married to the abusive August, she still has feelings for Jacob. Marlena has an amazing connection with horses. They follow, respect, and love her. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">August <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(Round)- August is Marlena’s husband and head animal trainer. He is a round character because he is sometimes kind and charming, but he can also <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> violent and abusive, especially to the animals and Marlena. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Camel <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (Flat)- Camel is one of the first people Jacob meets when he jumps on the train. He is drunk and was crucial in getting Jacob a job at the circus. When Camel become paralyzed, Jacob and Walter hide him in their room and take care of him.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #4a86e8; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Walter/ Kinko <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (Flat)- Walter is a performer that Jacob shares a room with on the train. At first Jacob and Walter don’t get along well, but after some time their friendship becomes very strong.

= Book vs. Movie = SPOILERS**

There are many similarities and differences between the book and the movie of //Water for Elephants//. In the movie, they don't show Jacob in the nursing home. In the book, it switches between Jacob telling his story of his time in the circus and his current life in the nursing home. That takes away from finding the real meaning of the title. Jacob was arguing with another nursing home resident because he said that he used to carry water for elephants. Jacob said that is impossible because the train could not carry the amount of water elephants drink. Also, Jacob doesn't find out his parents died while he was taking his test to become a vet, he finds out before and doesn't complete the test due to grief. The movie never mentions Uncle Al, the owner of the circus. He is another villain in the book, so the movie was missing some added conflict. In the book Marlena finds out she is pregnant, which they don't really mention in the book. That made Jacob do anything to keep Marlena and their child safe.

Many things didn't change from the book to the movie. Jacob was not technically a vet like he told August because he didn't finish his test when his parents died. When his parents died, he lost everything and that is why he jumped on the train. At first, Rosie, the elephant, was a very stubborn and couldn't do anything. Then they realized she understood Polish, so Jacob was able to translate. This made things a lot easier for Rosie because now August wouldn't abuse her anymore. Also at the end, Rosie kills August to protect Marlena. I really enjoyed the book and the movie! I would recommend both to any one!

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= Links =

[|Water for Elephants Movie]

[|Movie Review]

[|Sara Gruen Bio]

[|Book Reviews]



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