Water for Elephants
The memories that dwell in Jacob Jankowski’s ninety or ninety three year old mind have remained hidden for decades. Only in his dreams do these memories resurface. The book, Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen, is a very well written book. The story is full of unique characters, and revolves around the complex love between two men, a woman, and an elephant. I would recommend this novel to people who are not only interested in the circus, but those who love a good book.
Themes such as love are evident when reading Water for Elephants, and are an important part of the book. This is shown when Jacob falls in love with Marlena, and then the troubles Jacob has to go through for him and Marlena to be together. When Rosie the elephant joins their circus, both Jacob and Marlena fall in love with Rosie, and are brought together by their shared love. After August abuses and essentially tortures Rosie, it only helps bring Jacob and Marlena closer together. Jacob also shows a love for life, and despises what the nursing home represents. He reminisces the times when he wasn’t as physically incapacitated, and longs to be able to do what he once could. He doesn’t want to just lie in bed, and wait to die. A surprising love for Jacob, considering his first experience with the circus, is actually a love for the circus. When the circus comes near his nursing home, it is all he can think of. When none of his children appear to take him to the circus, he decides to go by himself. This leads to a heartwarming moment when the circuses manager allows Jacob to join the circus, as Jacob had when he was younger.
The books main character is Jacob Jankowski. The plot of the story is seemingly split into two parts, the larger part is that of Jacob’s past, and the other is that of his later years. In the beginning, elderly Jacob kept the past to himself, and never told anyone. His memories and his current self are kept separate, until the circus co...
