Jacob s story begins at cornell university where he is studying to come a vet. According to his life story he appears as an honorable and sensual man. The main focus is to keep corruption away from society. The movie begins with an elderly man who is actually jacob hal holbrook outside after a circus performance, looking for his ride, when younger workers notice him and ask if he is lost or needs to go back to the home. Water for elephants analysis water for elephants every book has the same basic hero archetype. Water for elephants is the story of jacob s life with this circus. Water for elephants every book has the same basic hero archetype. The water for elephants community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you.
If you say that you carried water for elephants, i am. I read in the paperback version of this book that the author used the story of jacob in the book of genesis as the backbone of this novel. The setting of the story changes throughout the book. Events lead him to joining the circus as their vet, working under their unstable boss august whose violent tendencies give everyone reason to be cautious around him, including his beautiful and quiet wife marlena, whom august is very possessive of and who jacob finds himself soon falling in love with. In water for elephants, the characters marlena and jacob are drawn together.
Water for elephants has two plots going on, both starring the same main character, jacob. After his parents death, jacob jankowski is left penniless and homeless. Water for elephants symbols, allegory and motifs gradesaver. Jacob, when narrating in his older years, demonstrates to readers that he remains as a static character throughout the novel. He is particularly angry with one old man who says he once got the water for elephants in the circus. Mcguinty is a minor character who appears early on in the book. The two men fight with one another any chance they got, no matter what topic they disagree on. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. While reading water for elephants i found the plot hyperbolic and excessively melodramatic and the characters little developed beyond their names. Related questions and answers for characters in water for elephants. So, i read the story of jacob, son of isaac who was the son of abraham, who almost sacrificed isaac. Jul 23, 2018 water for elephants by sara gruen is a must read a story about a 90yearold man remembering his days with a circus during the great depression. Use these book club discussion questions on water for elephants to lead your book clubs conversation on the story. While at school his parents are killed in a tragic car accident and jacob.
Jacob jankowski, who is currently ninety or ninetytwo, tells the. Sara gruens arresting new novel, water for elephants, explores similar subject. The name of the character jacob is the first clue and its pretty obvious. Many years before, jacob is a student at cornell university, studying veterinarian medicine in order to join. Another article in our series highlighting water for elephants.
Sep 07, 2016 i bought this book because of push advertising and regretted it. Read water for elephants absolutely for free at readanybook. Choose from 70 different sets of water for elephants flashcards on quizlet. I decided to not watch the movie when i heard it was coming out simply because i didnt want to possibly ruin the experience id had with the book if the movie wasnt uptopar. Mar 18, 2008 it came up as question 16 in the water for elephants reading group guide. He is portrayed as a bit of a rebel, arguing with other residents, complaining about the food. On our first date, my husband took me to see tod brownings freaks, a 1932 horror film with a distinctly diane arbus feel.
Sara gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. Analysis essay 9th novemember 2011 water for elephants in a recent interview for, robert pattinson, a household young actor, revealed that he was offered with various movie characters that he could choose from as his next role after starring in the twilight series. I read that the story of jacob is allegedly the backbone of water for elephants. My favourite being the elephant, who for a nonspeaking character. Jacob jankowski from water for elephants charactour. We believe every one of us deserves equal access to factbased news and analysis.
I bought this book because of push advertising and regretted it. The circus man water for elephants by sara gruen is a. What are six character traits jacob jankowski has in water for elephants. Water for elephants thesis statements and essay topics. Jacob jankowski is the main character of water for elephants. Jacob is ninetythree year old and is looking back on his adventures in life while he spends his days in a nursing home. Learn water for elephants with free interactive flashcards. Perhaps, like his interest in sex, jacob uses his readiness to participate in violence as a way of proving his masculinity to other characters. Character analysis of water for elephant 995 words 4 pages. Water for elephants is a rich surprise, a delightful gem springing from a fascinating footnote to history that absolutely deserved to be mined. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of water for elephants by sara gruen. Differences between water for elephants book vs movie page 1. On the first night after his leaving cornell, for example, jacob as did his biblical namesake lies back on the bank, resting my. It was written as part of national novel writing month.
Water for elephants book club discussion questions and answers. In the book, we see jacob as an old man in the nursing home throughout. Winner of the 2007 bookbrowse diamond award for most popular book. Have you ever wondered if the story your reading have any hidden meaning to it. Only days before graduating from vet school in 1931, young jake learns his parents have died and left him penniless. Jacob, the books narrator and protagonist, worked as a vet and trainer of sorts at a circus. Burns contemporary literature acp 29 september 2012 jacob and his decisions. In water for elephants, jacob comes in and gets in uncle als good graces without a lot of history that august has. In the movie water for elephants, the main characters in it provide the movie audience a journey that is very memory to human beings.
Younger jacob and older jacob each gets to have his say. When jacob jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, drifters, and misfits, a secondrate circus struggling to. There are several conflicts in sara gruens water for elephants. Dec 11, 2011 water for elephants book discussion questions water for elephants moves between a story about a circus and a story about an old man in a nursing home. Gruen has said that the backbone of her story parallels the biblical story of jacob in the book of genesis. Jacob jankowski the protagonist, a 93yearold nursing home resident reminiscing on the time he spent as a circus. My book was water for elephants and the protagonist was jacob. In the novel, water for elephants written by sara gruen, the protagonist, jacob. Also, joseph cannot be distinguished as a character since he was not a part of jacob s past. Jacobs story begins at cornell university where he is studying to come a vet. Water for elephants is a book that can be read and reread, recommended and handed off between friends. The theme of age the theme of age if the fifth theme in the novel. How do the chapters about the older jacob enrich the story about jacobs adventure with the circus. Explore our collection of motivational and famous quotes by authors you know and love.
You might like to consider the following adjectives. Water for elephants is an historical novel by sara gruen. I can see some parallels, but i also see maybe even more parallels with the story of joseph. I was astounded at the lack of research which became clear when i. Mar 26, 20 water for elephants every book has the same basic hero archetype. Apr 29, 2008 i went to my bible and read the story of jacob. Water for elephants by sara gruen is a must read a story about a 90yearold man remembering his days with a circus during the great depression. To pay for his tuition, his parents had to take out a morgage on the house, causing him to have no home. The only place the movie veers from the original is in its details of the older, current jacob.
Water for elephants is the new york times bestselling debut novel by sara gruen. In one plot, jacob is a young guy just starting out in the world. Water for elephants parallels to the biblical story of. Charlie enters the book in the secondtolast chapter and plays a small but pivotal role. Jacob jankowski is a main personage and protagonist of this novel. With lines of startling beauty, haunting and evocative scenes and finelydrawn characters who dance off the page, readers can dip in and out of the novel, immersing themselves in jacob s memories. Jacob is working overtime as the narrator of water for elephants. Marlena is married to august, but it is a bad marriage. An analysis of water for elephants using moral criticism when writers focus on morality, they try to write with a sense of moral so they do not corrupt the audience of the book. Analysis and discussion of characters in sara gruens water for elephants. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Gruen transports us into the world of a thirdrate traveling circus during the great depression. The denver post so compelling, so detailed and vivid, that i couldnt bear to be torn away from it for a single minute.
Set in a travelling circus touring the backblocks of america during the great depression of the early 1930s, this is a story of love and hate, trains and circuses, dwarves and fat ladies, horses and elephantsor to be more specific, one elephant, rosie, star. Water for elephants book club discussion questions and. These book club discussion questions reveal important details about water for elephants by sara gruen. Get an answer for what are six character traits jacob jankowski has in water for elephants. Jacob jankowski, a retired veterinarian living out his days in an assistedliving facility, drifts in and out of his memories.
To emphasize this, the whole book is written in the present tense. He is presented as appealing through the traits of kindnessto animals, especially rosieand patiencein learning how to work with rosie. Water for elephants a depressionera circus provides the backdrop for sara gruens latest novel, water for elephants. Even when living in the nursing home, jacob demonstrates that his violent tendencies remain when. Water for elephants book discussion questions water for elephants moves between a story about a circus and a story about an old man in a nursing home. The author, sara gruen allows readers to read the book from two perspectives, one from young jacob and the other from older presentday jacob. What are the main conflicts in sara gruens novel water for elephants. In the book water for elephants by sara gruen, there are some slight biblical themes if you look closely.
Readers may find themselves churning through this book at a rapidfire pace, eager to see what lies ahead, then slowing down as they realize the pages are dwindling. The title, water for elephants, is almost a little inside joke with the reader once weve finished the book, that is. Water for elephants is the touching story of jacob jankowski, a ninetythreeyearold man. The book, water for elephants, starts off in the present day, in a nursing home where the main character, jacob jankowski, lives. How jacob coaxes rosie to perform thereby saving the circus lies at the. The story follows jacob jankowski who was an old man living in a nursing. Marlena rosenbluth from water for elephants charactour. Aside from august, marlena, al, camel, and walter, the other people who work at the circus sort. From my understanding of both works, the only clear connection is the theme of deception.
The novel has received high praise from numerous critics, and has. What are six character traits jacob jankowski has in water for. Young jacob is able to do whatever his heart desires including, jumping on. The first signals the first time jacob comes close to admitting that he had been in the circus. In the book, jacobs narration takes place in his own mind. Jacob jankowski the protagonist, a 93yearold nursing home resident reminiscing on the time he spent as a. Water for elephants is a historical novel by sara gruen, written as part of national novel writing month. His parents, on his final day of his cornell academy of veteranary science exams, get killed. She wrote the book as part of national novel writing month.
Jacob jankowski is a complex character who retains the readers interest because of multiple contradictions in his character, so he can be said to show at least six character traits. An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of starcrossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932, by the bestselling author of riding lessons. Its from this nursing home that jacob tells his story, like he is looking back at all the adventures at the circus. Sara gruen, a writer from vancouver, canada, place where she presently lives. He insists that he doesnt belong in a home and becomes quite upset when they persistently ask, but then apologizes for his.
The circus man water for elephants by sara gruen is a fascinating and. Water for elephants by sara gruen start your free trial. The movie water for elephants stays close to sara gruens beloved book particularly with the 1930s circus memories section. This book, as the rest of her collection, was written in english, same.
Sara gruen has said that the backbone of her novel parallels the biblical story of jacob, in the book of genesis. Water for elephants is one of my most favorite books. The major issue in understanding any story is that the characters act out to declaration and accomplishment issues of the needs of. Young jacob is able to do whatever his heart desires including, jumping on moving trains and fighting for the women he loves. I can sort of see a parallel to the stealing the birthright part. Two days after he moves into walter and jacob s room, they discuss camels. Water for elephants by sara gruen the new york times. What are six character traits jacob jankowski has in water.
Jacob jankowski marlena rosie the elephant august uncle al rosemary the nurse walter camel. Jacob has joined the benzini brothers circus, where hes able to use his. I hate being so enamored with a book and then a crappy movie version comes along and tarnishes it. Water for elephants compared to the story of jacob how i relate the two stories in terms of a ladder jacob progresses there is a lot of deception struggles with women man vs man conflict jacob and esau, jacob and august persistence or stubbornness authors reasoning. The circus man water for elephants by sara gruen is a fascinating and captivating novel told from the point of view of jacob jankowski, a veterinarian who jumps aboard a traveling circus during the depression in the 1930s. This study guide consists of approximately 58 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of water for elephants. Set in a travelling circus touring the backblocks of america during the great depression of the early 1930s, this is a story of love and hate, trains and circuses, dwarves and fat ladies, horses and elephantsor to be more specific, one elephant, rosie, star of benzini bros most spectacular show on earth. They mortgaged their house to get him a good education at cornell. The concept of bringing water for elephants is mentioned in association with distinct instances in the book.