Water for Elephants

The New York Times best seller, Water for Elephants exhibits a separation between upper and lower social classes. Author Sara Gruen shows us though the life of Jacob Jankowski that this separation has been around since the Great Depression era and still exists in present times.

When Jacobs was young, he saw and experienced first hand the challenges that were present within the different social classes. It all started while Jacob was attending Cornell University and was called into the dean’s office. Jacob felt worried that he might be expelled by the higher authorities due to the illegal alcohol and his pornography collection he kept in his dorm room. Unfortunately, things were much worse and soon Jacob found himself face to face with a relentless esquire who repossessed the home. Finding himself at the bottom of the social classes and no longer identifying himself with other students, Jacob runs away only to find himself now as a member of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth.

The Benzini Brothers Circus in comparison to other circuses is a very low class form of entertainment. They are always comparing themselves to others, especially the Ringling Brothers. For example, Big Bertha has better dinning services with waiters and Ringling has a better act overall with several elephants. The Benzini Brothers pick up the leftovers from other failed circuses. In fact, Ringmaster, Uncle Al acquired the circus in this manner. The shows are exaggerated. For example, the fat women isn’t as heavy as what she’s marketed to weigh and the show has fake freaks such as a horse who has his head protruding from his rear side. The circus is also financially in a lower class. At times they don’t have enough money to pay the crew and they throw members from their train when they no longer have use for them or can’t pay them. Finally, at a certain point Jacob express just how low the circus is when he says that he lied and has never heard of the Benzini Brothers. He also makes it a point to say that Ringling was “great” as making a comparison.

The separation of social classes is much more visible within the circus. There is a clear distinction between the workers and the performers. At meal time there is segregation between the two. Each are assigned their own table and it is forbidden for workers and performers to sit together. The performers are regarded as “kinkers” to the working class and the workers are known as “roustabouts” to the performers. The dining tables of the performers are dressed while the tables of the workers are bare. Also, the performers have much more luxurious train cars which is noted when the doctor changes expression as he travels from the shiny luxurious cars at the tail of train to the battered cars of the workers at towards the front of the train. Moreover, their sleeping conditions are also different. The performers sleep on beds such as when Jacob approached August’s bed with intentions to kill him, and workers like Jacob sleep on horse blanket with mildew. The working class is also at the mercy of Uncle Al. When more performers were acquired from Fox Brothers, he rationed two of the workers cars for the new performers. Additionally, when funds are low, the workers are the first who do not get paid. This resulted in Jacob paying a doctor with his father’s pocket watch for Camel’s bill. Camel was also lucky to see Marlena’s doctor because workers don’t get medical attention; they just get “redlighted.” The workers are also the ones to get blamed and punished if anything goes wrong. For example, before it was discovered that Rosie was the lemonade thief, the workers were fined for being suspects. Finally, Kinko triggers an incident that causes Jacob to become fed-up with the social classing when Kinko uses the work “kike.” Jacob then points out that performers pick on the workers, workers pick on the Polish, and the Polish pick on the Jews.

There is also a separation of social classes outside of the circus. The doctor that treats Camel for Jake Leg is disgusted by the workers. He won’t let his knees touch the ground when examining Camel, makes reference that Camel is an alcoholic, talks to Jacob as if he’s stupid, and wipes his hands thoroughly after the examination. Bums are also looked down upon as one of Blackie’s duties is to remove them from the train. Walter (a.k.a Kinko) was also not fit to live among the class of his mother. Being a dwarf, he was unfit for farm work, thus sold to the circus. When Jacob is finding his way back to the menagerie from the raid at the warehouse and his first kiss with Marlena, he stumbles across a “hobo jungle.” Jacob feels the homeless individuals starring at him with hostility due to the suit that he’s wearing. However Jacob realized that the suit is the only thing that separates them from being the same class. Marlena came from a certain class of family where her marriage was to be arranged. By marrying August a Jew, she lowered her class standing and was disowned by her parents. Marlena and Jacob also encounter problems together when trying to find a room for Marlena after August’s and Jacob’s fight. Marlena is denied a room because the clerk thinks she and Jacob are fornicating until he finds out that she is part of The Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Blacks are also portrayed in the book to be from a lower class. There is an image of a black boy shining shoes in the town after Jacob’s embarrassing moment with Barbara and Nell. Also, while blacks set up the banners to the circus, whites prepare the lemonade for the customers.

After the disaster at the circus, Jacob finds himself slipping into a higher social status. He finishes his exams at Cornell and marries Marlena. They had three children and found work with Ringling. When Rosie was too old, Jacob luckily found a job at Brookfield Zoo and was able to afford an automobile, and a ranch for Marlena’s horses.

In present times, Jacob Jankowski has moved back down the social ladder and has been sentenced by his children to live his final years in a nursing home. Here he is treated much like a caged animal by sometimes being isolated for disciplinary correction. Jacob also states that he is “poked and prodded like a piece of meat,” and that he is a “Jell-O eating sheep” when he is sedated. He has a hard time with locomotion and is on the verge of senility. He is given a special diet and is sometimes treated to a little extra treats from Rosemary such as cream and fruits; just like Rosie was given alcohol once and a while. He is visited sometimes from his children who are there only to serve a duty and are often anxious to leave. In the nursing home, Rosemary is very much loving and caring to him. There is also a “horse faced” nurse that has an August attitude which denies Jacob his walker and Dr. Rashid who is much like Uncle Al, calling the shots.

In the end, Jacob escapes the nursing home to watch the final acts of the circus. Along the way he encounters a woman who almost foils his outing and the ticket boy who won’t let him in without admission all in part to his social classification. However, Jacob meets Charlie O’Brien who allows him to find refuge in the Circus, where he can find a sense of belonging and identification.

Throughout the years very little has changed. The presence of social classes separates and segregates the community as we know it. Mostly it’s in terms of money. We see wealthy neighborhoods and slums like the “hobo jungle” and workers for the same corporation get different benefits depending on what position they are. For example, a retail employee for Sprint will get 3 holidays a year whereas a business representative will get 7 days a year. There will always be somebody on the top delegating the work and making the decisions. Ultimately, if we are not the ringmaster, then we are just the rubes.