Water for Elephants
Encyclopedia
Water for Elephants is a historical
novel
by Sara Gruen
. Gruen originally wrote the novel as part of National Novel Writing Month
.
As the memories begin, Jacob Jankowski is a twenty-three year old Polish American
preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University
veterinary student when he receives the devastating news that his parents were killed in a car accident. Jacob’s father was a veterinarian and Jacob had planned to join his practice. When Jacob learns that his father was deeply in debt because he had been treating animals for just beans and eggs and had mortgaged the family home to provide Jacob an Ivy League
education, he has a breakdown and leaves school just short of graduation. In the dark of night, he jumps on a train only to learn it is a circus
train belonging to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. When the owner of the circus, Uncle Al, learns of his training as a vet, he is hired to care for the circus animals. This consequently leads Jacob to share quarters with a dwarf named Walter (who is known as Kinko to the circus) and his dog Queenie. A few weeks later Jacob is summoned to take a look at Camel, an old man who, after drinking Jamaican ginger extract for many years, can't move his arms or legs. Fearing Camel will be "red-lighted" (referring to the practice of throwing circus workers off a moving train as either punishment or as severance from the circus to avoid paying wages), he hides him in his room.
The head trainer, August, is a brutal man who abuses the animals in his care (such as the new elephant Rosie) and the people around him. Alternately, he can be utterly charming. Jacob develops a guarded relationship with August and his wife, Marlena, with whom Jacob falls in love. August is suspicious of their relationship and beats Marlena and Jacob. Marlena subsequently leaves August and stays at a hotel while she's not performing. Uncle Al then informs Jacob that August is a paranoid schizophrenic and then utters a threat: reunite August and Marlena as a happily married couple or Walter and Camel get red-lighted.
A few days later after discovering that August has tried to see Marlena, Jacob visits her in her hotel room. Soon after he comforts her however, the couple sleep together and then eventually declare their love for each other. Marlena soon returns to the circus to perform (and also to have secret meetings with Jacob), but refuses to have August near her, which makes Uncle Al furious.
One night Jacob climbs up and jumps each car, while the train is moving, to August's room, carrying a knife between his teeth intending to kill August. However, Jacob backs out and returns to his car, only to find no one there but Queenie. He then realizes that Walter and Camel were red-lighted and Jacob himself was supposed to be too.
As the story climaxes, several circus workers who were red-lighted off the train come back and release the animals causing a stampede during the performance.
In the ensuing panic, Rosie the elephant takes a stake and drives it into August's head. His body is then trampled. Jacob was the only one who saw what truly happened to August. As a result of this incident, which occurred during a circus performance, the circus is shut down. Soon after, Uncle Al's body is found with a makeshift garrote
around his neck. Marlena and Jacob leave, along with several circus animals (Rosie, Queenie and others), and begin their life together.
Ninety-three year old Jacob is waiting for his family to take him to the circus. It is revealed that Jacob and Marlena married and had 5 children spending the first seven years at the Ringling Bros. circus
before Jacob got a job as a vet for a Chicago zoo. Marlena is revealed to have died a few years before Jacob was put into a nursing home. After finding out no one is coming for him, elderly Jacob goes to the circus on his own. He soon meets the manager Charlie and begs to be allowed to accompany the circus by selling tickets. Charlie agrees and Jacob believes he has finally come home.
as the premier circus of the time. Also, photos of actual circuses and circus performers of the time are included throughout the book.
, and starred Robert Pattinson
as Jacob Jankowski, Reese Witherspoon
as Marlena, and Christoph Waltz
as August. Hal Holbrook
played the older Jacob Jankowski. Other cast members include Mark Povinelli
as Kinko/Walter and Jim Norton
as Camel, James Frain
as Rosie's caretaker, Ken Foree
as Earl and Paul Schneider
as Charlie O'Brien.
The character of "Uncle Al" has been eliminated. In the film, August is both owner and animal trainer.
The film featured Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
#610 and former McCloud Railway
No. 18. No. 18 was repaired to operational condition for filming. Once her scenes were finished, she was returned to her owners, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in Virginia City, Nevada
. Afterwards, she was put into service on July 24.
Water for Elephants was filmed in Ventura County, California; Georgia; and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Sara Gruen
Sara Gruen
Sara Gruen is a Canada-born dual citizen author. Her books deal greatly with animals and she is a supporter of numerous charitable organizations that support animals and wildlife.-Early life and education:...
. Gruen originally wrote the novel as part of National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month is an annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel between November 1 and November 30...
.
Plot
The story is told as a series of memories by Jacob Jankowski, a "ninety or ninety-three year-old" man who lives in a nursing home. Jacob is told what to eat and what to do.As the memories begin, Jacob Jankowski is a twenty-three year old Polish American
Polish American
A Polish American , is a citizen of the United States of Polish descent. There are an estimated 10 million Polish Americans, representing about 3.2% of the population of the United States...
preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
veterinary student when he receives the devastating news that his parents were killed in a car accident. Jacob’s father was a veterinarian and Jacob had planned to join his practice. When Jacob learns that his father was deeply in debt because he had been treating animals for just beans and eggs and had mortgaged the family home to provide Jacob an Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
education, he has a breakdown and leaves school just short of graduation. In the dark of night, he jumps on a train only to learn it is a circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
train belonging to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. When the owner of the circus, Uncle Al, learns of his training as a vet, he is hired to care for the circus animals. This consequently leads Jacob to share quarters with a dwarf named Walter (who is known as Kinko to the circus) and his dog Queenie. A few weeks later Jacob is summoned to take a look at Camel, an old man who, after drinking Jamaican ginger extract for many years, can't move his arms or legs. Fearing Camel will be "red-lighted" (referring to the practice of throwing circus workers off a moving train as either punishment or as severance from the circus to avoid paying wages), he hides him in his room.
The head trainer, August, is a brutal man who abuses the animals in his care (such as the new elephant Rosie) and the people around him. Alternately, he can be utterly charming. Jacob develops a guarded relationship with August and his wife, Marlena, with whom Jacob falls in love. August is suspicious of their relationship and beats Marlena and Jacob. Marlena subsequently leaves August and stays at a hotel while she's not performing. Uncle Al then informs Jacob that August is a paranoid schizophrenic and then utters a threat: reunite August and Marlena as a happily married couple or Walter and Camel get red-lighted.
A few days later after discovering that August has tried to see Marlena, Jacob visits her in her hotel room. Soon after he comforts her however, the couple sleep together and then eventually declare their love for each other. Marlena soon returns to the circus to perform (and also to have secret meetings with Jacob), but refuses to have August near her, which makes Uncle Al furious.
One night Jacob climbs up and jumps each car, while the train is moving, to August's room, carrying a knife between his teeth intending to kill August. However, Jacob backs out and returns to his car, only to find no one there but Queenie. He then realizes that Walter and Camel were red-lighted and Jacob himself was supposed to be too.
As the story climaxes, several circus workers who were red-lighted off the train come back and release the animals causing a stampede during the performance.
In the ensuing panic, Rosie the elephant takes a stake and drives it into August's head. His body is then trampled. Jacob was the only one who saw what truly happened to August. As a result of this incident, which occurred during a circus performance, the circus is shut down. Soon after, Uncle Al's body is found with a makeshift garrote
Garrote
A garrote or garrote vil is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone....
around his neck. Marlena and Jacob leave, along with several circus animals (Rosie, Queenie and others), and begin their life together.
Ninety-three year old Jacob is waiting for his family to take him to the circus. It is revealed that Jacob and Marlena married and had 5 children spending the first seven years at the Ringling Bros. circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...
before Jacob got a job as a vet for a Chicago zoo. Marlena is revealed to have died a few years before Jacob was put into a nursing home. After finding out no one is coming for him, elderly Jacob goes to the circus on his own. He soon meets the manager Charlie and begs to be allowed to accompany the circus by selling tickets. Charlie agrees and Jacob believes he has finally come home.
Characters
- Jacob Jankowski – The novel’s protagonist. He is a "ninety or ninety-three"-year-old nursing home resident reminiscing on the time he spent as a circus veterinarian during the Great Depression.
- Marlena – The main love interest and a star performer with the circus. Marlena joined the circus after she ran away from home to marry August. She enjoys a special rapport with the horses and cares for them deeply.
- August – Marlena’s husband and the head animal trainer. As a classic battererDomestic violenceDomestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
, he is alternately charming and brutal, both to the humans and animals aboard the Benzini Brothers train. Later in the book, it is suggested that he is a paranoid schizophrenicSchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
to excuse his violence. - Uncle Al – The violent, abusive owner of the circus. He is known for redlighting circus workers – having them thrown off the moving circus train in the middle of the night to avoid paying them. If these roustabouts are deemed to have committed some particularly egregious offense, they were thrown off while the train was passing over a trestle, presumably with the hope that they would die or be seriously injured.
- Kinko/Walter – A dwarf with whom Jacob shares living quarters on the circus train. Initially, their relationship is rocky, but they develop a strong friendship. At the beginning of the story, he is known as Kinko. Walter is his real name and he only lets his friends call him this. He has a Jack Russell TerrierJack Russell TerrierThe Jack Russell terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting. It is principally white-bodied smooth, rough or broken-coated which is commonly confused with the Parson Russell terrier and the Russell terrier with the term "Jack Russell" commonly misapplied to other small white...
named Queenie to which he is very attached. - Camel – One of the first people Jacob meets when he jumps the train. Camel is a drunk who is instrumental in getting Jacob a job with the circus. When Camel gets "Jake Leg" from drinking contaminated Jamaican gingerJamaican gingerJamaica Ginger extract was a late 19th century patent medicine that provided a convenient way to bypass Prohibition laws, since it contained between 70-80% ethanol by weight.-History:...
, Jacob and Walter hide him in their train car and care for him. - Rosie – An elephant that Uncle Al buys from another circus. She is believed to be useless until it is discovered that she understands commands only in PolishPolish languagePolish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
. She is often the target of August’s rage. - Rosemary – A nurse in the nursing home where Jacob lives who is especially kind to Jacob, despite the fact that Jacob can be very rude to her.
Concept
Sara Gruen has said that the backbone of her story parallels the biblical story of Jacob in the Book of Genesis. The book contains multiple references to Ringling BrothersRingling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is an American circus company. The company was started when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum was merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Ringling brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907, but ran the circuses...
as the premier circus of the time. Also, photos of actual circuses and circus performers of the time are included throughout the book.
Major themes
The major themes explored in this novel include circus life during the depression (Gruen did extensive research on the subject), the testing of a man’s moral compass, self worth, mental illnesses, acting on emotions, illusion vs. reality, and love triangles.Title
In the beginning of the novel, Jacob mocks another resident of the nursing home who claims to have worked in the circus and carried water for the elephants. We are led to believe that this is a popular, but untrue, claim.Awards and nominations
- 2006 Quill Award nominee for General Fiction
- 2007 Alex AwardsAlex AwardsThe Alex Awards are also a separate award given for excellence in entertainment packaging.The Alex Awards is an annual event designed to commend and honor the ten books published for adults during the previous year, which have been also judged to have "special appeal" for young readers, primarily...
selection - Entertainment Weekly Best Novel of 2006 nominee
- New York Times Best Seller listNew York Times Best Seller listThe New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
for 12 weeks in 2006 (peaked at #7 on August 20, 2006) - Book SenseBook SenseBook Sense was a marketing and branding program of the American Booksellers Association, in which many independent bookstores across North America participated in order to better compete with the large book chains. Bookstores participating in the Book Sense program were expected to display the Book...
#1 pick for June 2006 - Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse award for most popular book
- The paperback hit #1 on the New York Times Best Seller list on July 8, 2007
Release
- 2006, USA, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing, ISBN 1-56512-499-5, Pub date 26 May 2006, Hardback
- 2006, USA, Thorndike Press, ISBN 0-7862-9027-7, Pub date 15 December 2006, Large print hardback
- 2007, USA, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, a division of Workman Publishing, ISBN 1-56512-560-6, Pub date 1 May 2007, Paperback
- 2006, USA, Highbridge Audio, ISBN 1-59887-062-9, Pub date 1 June 2006, Audiobook
Film adaptation
A film adaptation produced by Flashpoint Entertainment and Fox 2000 Pictures was released in theaters on April 22, 2011. The film was directed by Francis LawrenceFrancis Lawrence
Francis Lawrence is an American music video and film director.-Life and career:Lawrence was born in Vienna, Austria. His father is a physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge and his mother is V.P. Technology at a PR agency. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of three...
, and starred Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson
Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire...
as Jacob Jankowski, Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
as Marlena, and Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz
Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He received international acclaim for his portrayal of SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in the 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and the BAFTA, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and...
as August. Hal Holbrook
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...
played the older Jacob Jankowski. Other cast members include Mark Povinelli
Mark Povinelli
Mark Povinelli is an American stage, television, and movie actor who also does occasional stunt work. He stands 3’ 9½” and weighs 75 pounds as a consequence of spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita , a skeletal dysplasia caused by a mutation in the COL2A1 gene.-Life and career:Povinelli was...
as Kinko/Walter and Jim Norton
Jim Norton (actor)
Jim Norton is an Irish character actor.-Performances:Jim Norton has been acting for over forty years in theatre, television, and movies, and frequently plays clergymen, most notably Bishop Brennan in the sitcom Father Ted, as well as in The Sweeney , Peak Practice , Sunset Heights , A Love Divided...
as Camel, James Frain
James Frain
James Dominic Frain is an English stage and screen actor. He is possibly best known for his role in the Showtime series The Tudors in which he appeared as Thomas Cromwell from 2007 to 2009, and for his role as vampire Franklin Mott in season three of the HBO drama True Blood, as well as his role...
as Rosie's caretaker, Ken Foree
Ken Foree
Kentotis Alvin "Ken" Foree is an American actor probably most famous as the hero Peter in Dawn of the Dead and Kenan & Kel as Roger, Kenan's dad.- Early life and career :Foree was born in Indianapolis, Indiana...
as Earl and Paul Schneider
Paul Schneider (actor)
Paul Andrew Schneider is an American film actor.-Early life and career:Schneider was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. He graduated from the North Carolina School of Arts...
as Charlie O'Brien.
The character of "Uncle Al" has been eliminated. In the film, August is both owner and animal trainer.
The film featured Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum is a railroad museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman and Robert M. Soule, Jr...
#610 and former McCloud Railway
McCloud Railway
The McCloud Railway is a class III railroad operated around Mount Shasta, California. It began operations on July 1, 1992 when it took over operations from the McCloud River Railroad...
No. 18. No. 18 was repaired to operational condition for filming. Once her scenes were finished, she was returned to her owners, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad in Virginia City, Nevada
Virginia City, Nevada
Virginia City is a census-designated place that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 855 at the 2010 Census.- History :...
. Afterwards, she was put into service on July 24.
Water for Elephants was filmed in Ventura County, California; Georgia; and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
External links
- Sara Gruen's website
- Water for Elephants at Amazon.comAmazon.comAmazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
- Water for Elephants at IMDb
- Official Water for Elephants Website
- Water for Elephants Movie Website