Water for Elephants

“Age is a terrible thief. Just when you’re getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies your head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse.”

Age is personified as an entity seeking to steal one’s youth, vitality, and joy. Jacob laments how he was stripped of his physical and emotional health by age and the loss of his wife. Jacob is bitter over his losses and feels he’s wasting away in the nursing home.

“‘Damn Prohibition,’ Camel finally says. ‘This stuff used to taste just fine till the government decided it shouldn’t.’”

Prohibition began when the Volstead Act, which took effect in 1920, outlawed the production and sale of alcohol in the US. Camel drinks a medicinal extract nicknamed “Jake” that people used as a substitute for liquor. The extract often had extremely high alcohol content and was dangerous for humans to ingest in large quantities. The reference firmly roots the narrative in the Depression era.

“‘[…] goose-stepping past like the Brownshirts you see in the grainy news trailers at the movies.’”

This allusion establishes a sense of time in the novel. “Brownshirts” refers to the Nazi militia group formed by Adolf Hitler. The powerful group aided in Hitler’s rise to fame and power, eventually leading to World War I. Jacob’s entry into the circus occurs as the US is in the throes of the Great Depression and Europe is rekindled into conflict.

“I’ve noticed that people tend not to argue with August.”

Until this point, August has been kind to Jacob. However, as the narrative progresses, he begins to show his true personality. The incident with the lion and the episode at dinner reveal that August has a dark side to his personality. The stress of the journey to Joliet and the lack of supplies unleashes his controlling and violent tendencies. He’s possessive and jealous of Marlena.

“I catch sight of Camel, who lifts a hand in greeting before passing along the Sterno fluid.”

Since alcohol is illegal, Camel uses other substances as substitutes. Sterno is a solidified version of alcohol used to heat chafing dishes on a buffet line. Ingesting the substance can be poisonous and lead to permanent injury or even death. In the grip of physical pain and addiction, Camel exhibits dangerous behavior.

“When I raise it to my face, a clown looks back at me.”

After Jacob loses consciousness, someone paints his face in clown makeup. When he sees himself in the mirror, he doesn’t recognize his appearance. The moment symbolizes Jacob’s loss of self-control since joining the circus. His life bears no resemblance to what it was before he jumped on the train.

“‘You can call me Walter if you want.’”

Having previously upbraided Jacob for calling him by his real name, Walter now permits Jacob to do so. The previous night’s event served as a type of initiation into the circus, and Walter now sees Jacob as someone he can trust. Moreover, Jacob treats Walter like a human even though others treat Walter abusively. His statement symbolizes his rising above their level and embracing Jacob as a real friend.

“The houses are in disrepair, and many have boards over their windows. I pass a breadline—a long row of shabby dispirited people leading to the door of a mission.”

In Chicago, the consequences of the Great Depression are visible everywhere. Displaced people sleep in doorways and wait in line for charitable handouts. During the Depression, churches and other philanthropic organizations tried to alleviate the hardships of those affected by offering one free meal per day. Although it kept some people from starving, it did little to subvert the humanitarian crisis caused by the catastrophic economic downturn.

“I’m lounging on my bedroll reading Othello […]”

In the play Othello, a tragedy by William Shakespeare, the protagonist’s jealousy of his wife and fear of her betrayal overtakes him, leading to murder. Jacob’s reference in this passage parallels August’s jealousy over Jacob’s attraction to Marlena. Although he hasn’t explicitly stated it, August is prepared to enact vengeance on anyone threatening his relationship with his wife.

“These horses are an extension of Marlena—a part of her that is here, right now, with me.”

Like Jacob, Marlena has a close connection to animals and cares about them deeply. After watching her mesmerizing performance, Jacob has a new appreciation for her rapport with the horses. Jacob describes it as if she hypnotizes them. The commonality they share only tortures him more since he sees no hope for them to be together. For now, he must be content with being near the animals she loves so intimately.

“‘If you’re a performer, you take shots at the working men. If you’re a working man, you take shots at the Poles. If you’re a Pole, you take shots at the Jews. And if you’re a dwarf—well, you tell me, Walter?’”

After Walter uses a racial slur against Jews, Jacob admonishes him for his prejudicial beliefs. Although Walter has experienced prejudice from many in the circus, he also holds racist beliefs. Jacob goes down the hierarchy of people in the circus and the ways they each discriminate against one another. Intolerance is rampant in the circus, making it a harsh place to live and work.

“‘The war made a lot of men go funny. You knew he was a gunner, didn’t you?’”

Grady reveals to Jacob that Camel served in World War I. The war left many men with post-traumatic stress disorder. Not much was known about the psychological effects of trauma at the time, and most men just called it “shell shock.” Camel deals with his trauma by drinking excessively.

“‘He’s a paragon schnitzophonic.’”

In attempting to explain August’s violent mood swings to Jacob, Uncle Al botches the pronunciation of “paranoid schizophrenic.” The mistake is symbolic, however, as many people in this era were as ignorant as Uncle Al about mental health. Little help existed in the way of diagnosis, treatment, or therapies for people struggling with mental health conditions like depression or anxiety. Misunderstood by most, those afflicted were put in psychiatric hospitals or locked away from society. In extreme cases, some were forced to undergo electroshock treatments and lobotomies.

“‘When two people are meant to be together, they will be together. It’s fate.’”

Jacob’s statement to Al is meant to placate the ringmaster by pretending that he’s referring to August and Marlena. However, Jacob is really referring to himself and Marlena. He believes that their being together is inevitable and that no one can stop it.

“In Poughkeepsie, we are raided, and for once the social strata are bridged: working men, performers, and bosses alike weep and snizzle as all that scotch, all that wine, all that fine Canadian whiskey, all that beer, all that gin, and even moonshine is poured onto the gravel […]”

Jacob describes a typical Prohibition raid by federal agents. They’d make a grand show of dumping hundreds, sometimes thousands, of gallons of alcohol onto the ground. In addition, the different types of alcoholic drinks—from expensive to cheap—reflect the social hierarchy of the circus. The performers drink wine and expensive liquors, while the lowliest workers drink moonshine. Everyone experiences the same level of grief, however, over the loss of their prized alcohol.

“‘Whatever he was when he wandered away from his family, he is incalculably worse now, damaged beyond repair and probably even recognition.’”

As the threat of Al’s retribution looms, Walter loses his compassion for Camel. He’s interested only in saving himself. In addition, Walter speaks the sad truth of Camel’s condition: The ravages of war and the Depression have stolen his humanity, and addiction has left him in a helpless situation.

“Six minutes later, I’m creeping across the top of the stock car on my hands and knees with Walter’s knife in my teeth.”

In this dramatic moment, Jacob attempts to save Marlena and enact justice against August. The author creates suspense as Jacob crawls across the train cars while they hurtle over a bridge trestle. In addition, this scene foreshadows Camel and Walter’s demise, as Jacob has taken Walter’s knife, leaving him with no means to defend himself against Al’s security thugs.

“It occurs to me that my conscience stopped me from killing August at the very moment someone was attempting to carry out his orders to kill me.”

Jacob has a strong sense of morality. From the moment he joined the circus, this has set him at odds with its leaders, who have no qualms about doing what’s morally wrong if it benefits them. Jacob’s decision not to murder August sets him apart from Al and the others. Ironically, Jacob’s friends are murdered while he makes the moral choice to spare August.

“‘Besides […] it seems to me you’ve got a lot to lose right now.’”

Grady’s ominous warning is layered with meaning. First, it signals to Jacob that Grady knows about his and Marlena’s affair. Their secret is out, and it puts them both in grave danger. Second, the line brings the novel full circle, back to the events of the Prologue. The story is reaching its climactic moment.

“There’s an ungodly collision of brass that finishes with a cymbal’s hollow clang. It wavers out of the big top and across the lot, leaving nothing in its wake.”

The author employs figurative language to convey a sense of the chaos erupting in the circus tent. Using onomatopoeia to describe the instrument sounds connotes a unique sensory experience, and the discordant clash of the sounds mimics the circus falling into chaos. The sounds are inescapable and cover everything, foreshadowing the inevitable crushing stampede of the animals.

“She walks with such certainty, placing each foot in front of the other and holding her shoulders square.”

August’s death releases Marlena from the tyranny of an abusive, controlling marriage. Her indignant refusal to give up her horses displays a new confidence Jacob hasn’t seen in her. She now embraces the freedom to make her own decisions instead of cowering under August’s control.

“In for a penny, in for a pound.”

As Jacob and Marlena prepare to exit from what remains of the Benzini Brothers, they rescue Bobo the chimp to come with them to the Ringling Brothers. This quote is a colloquial phrase used to describe finishing a job and completing a task despite its being hard-fought. Jacob has come this far and already rescued the horses, Rosie, and Marlena, so he decides to help Bobo as well.

“‘After the Hartford fire and Hagenbeck-Wallace wreck, that’s probably the most famous circus disaster of all time.’”

When Charlie O’Brien takes the time to stop and talk to the elderly Jacob, he learns that Jacob participated in a historic circus event. The Harford fire and Hagenbeck-Wallace train wreck were both real-life events that ended in massive loss of life. The author anchors her story in history by including the stampede in the list of notorious circus disasters.