Doris Zhang
Miss. Trosko
English Character Analysis Essay
9th Novemember 2011 Water for Elephants
In a recent interview for “Collider.com”, 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. Finally, he decided to play the role of Jacob Jankowski in a film adaptation directed by Francis Lawrence, “Water for Elephants”. Why did Robert Pattinson choose to act an orphaned and impecunious Cornell veterinary student who earned a living as a vet in a traveling circus? In what way did this character attract him? What would a Polish American’s life be like during the Great Depression?
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His strong mind made it easier for him to accept the truth that he lost his all at an instance. Jacob is also brave, seeing from his return after his lover Marlena was caught back to the circus during their elopement. Realizing that August, Marlena’s husband, would kill him without a second thought, Jacob still headed back to the circus. It was Jacob’s braveness that helped him get through the tough time.
Notwithstanding all his strengths, Jacob is too impulsive and naive, which could have killed him if he was not lucky enough. Here is an example. After a fierce fight with August for Marlena, Jacob was forced to leave the circus or he would inevitably be treated with violence. He impulsively came up with the idea of running away with Marlena without thinking about how terrible would his friends be abused after their leave. As a matter of fact, his only friends in the circus, Camel and Walter were red-lighted(thrown out of a moving train) and found dead as a result of helping him. The intended victims also included Jacob. Camel and Walter’s death left Jacob with lifetime regrets. A young man from a middle-class family, Jacob didn’t always understand the dilemma others were in. He just naively judged people from one aspect. After Rosie was misused by August, Jacob intended to beat August up without trying to consider August’s
Jacob was dishonest to his father and brother. Esav threaten to murder Jacob. This caused the brothers to go separate ways. For more than twenty years the brothers never heard from each other. They then planned to meet, we don’t know what Esav was feeling but we know Jacob was very nervous to meet his brother.
After his involvement in the circus Jacob starts to fall in love with Marlena who is married to the circus head animal trainer, August.
The second time Jacob visits the children’s home, he encounters a group of small children that he recognizes from the pictures his grandfather used to show him. One child asks if he is Abraham, but when they see his face, they are disappointed that he is not, and run away. Jacob runs after them and follows them into a tunnel, but gives up and decides to go home. As he walks through the town
Learning that his mom was having an affair with someone else hit him in the heart hard. He wanted to believe that it wasn’t his mother, that it was someone else, but he couldn’t. He found out when he was gathering flowers for his mother, and then he heard something. He went around to see his mother with another person other than his dad. When they parted from each other they kissed, and Jacob was shocked from this. He was hiding behind a bush when he saw this,“Through the leaves, Jacob caught a glimpse of the man’s face. They didn’t speak, only kissed, and parted”(191). One can assume that he's frustrated at his mom, and probably doesn’t want to talk with her for the day.
Throughout the drama, Giles Corey has been characterized as a foolish person, but in this passage, Giles exhibits a more logical trait. Preceding this passage, in Act One, Giles has, “been blamed for so much” (Miller 40), that being a logical person had no purpose in his life. Consequently, Giles wasn’t the norm in the general public, and thus, didn’t give, “a hoot for public opinion” (40). This lead to Giles being, “six time in court this year” (31), since the town has come to believe that most crimes have a root with him. In addition, when in court once, Giles was asked a question, but didn’t answer it, but rather replied that he never, “spoke that word in my life” (41).
Whenever Marlena is in danger, Jacob immediately tries to help her as much as he could, even if it means that he might get hurt in the process. When August turns ballistic and tries to hurt Marlena, Jacob intervenes without hesitation: “[August] ends up dragging [Marlena] by the neck as she screams. I launch across the open space and tackle him” (246). As soon as Jacob sees that Marlena is in danger, he tries to help her and rescue her from August. He knows that there are consequences, such as being redlighted or fired, especially because August is his employer. Even with all these known threats, Jacob attacks August anyways. Jacob is willing to defend Marlena from a dangerous August because of his incredible loyalty to her. His loyalty to her also makes him want to ensure Marlena’s safety, so he takes Marlena with him when he leaves the circus: “I can’t leave Marlena… here while I return to Ithaca to write my exams” (318). The only person keeping Jacob from immediately leaving the circus to go back to pursuing his dream of becoming a veterinarian was Marlena. He stays at the circus for a longer period of time to watch over her and eventually takes her back to his home. Jacob’s protectiveness to Marlena leads him to attack people who try to hurt her, and he also does not leave the circus immediately to retake his exams because of
Jacob had many duties when he was in the army. In the words of Krapfl, “I was a Paratrooper but I was officially a Cannon Crewmember.” Jacob completed Jump School where he learned the “use of the parachute as a means of combat deployment and to develop leadership, self-confidence, and an aggressive spirit” (US Army). Not only did the army teach him lessons but also he made a difference in the civilians around. The US went over to neutralize a crooked country, make another US ally, and to make the world secure from terrorism (Kelly). This
Jacob Jankowski is trying to get back to the way life used to be, which used to be full of excitement and not being treated like an old man. As Jacob had done once before as a kid running away from a tough time in his life he was on his way to the circus “already feeling the thrill of victory” as he is “huffing a little, but my legs are still steady” (Gruen 323). He had to get away from the assisted living home that enabled him from enjoying the activities and the luxuries of being to pick what he wanted to eat each day. He’s so determined to get to the place that allowed him to finish his studies and interact with the animals he treated. There was no way Mr. Jankowski was going to set “foot in that facility again until I’ve seen what’s left of the show” (Gruen 323). In his eyes he has gone through too much to turn back now and stay in a place where he’s lonely with nobody to love. It was hard for him to live there without Marlena. He couldn’t help but wonder “How am I going to survive that place when she’s gone?” and remembering “her imminent departure wracks my old body with grief” (Gruen 323). He imagined being with Marlena and not left alone in the assisted living home. That feel is “quickly displaced by joy” and “the sweet, sweet sound of circus music” (Gruen 323) that takes him back to the time when he was a veterinarian at the circus experiencing something new and impactful. It’s amazing that the carnival had such a huge impact on him that it can make the toughest times start to disappear. I think that he was destined to join the circus again with new people that could make him feel at home again whether his family forgot to take him this year or
Due to Jacob narrating most of the story, the characterization was key for the reader to understand the real personality traits of characters and the way he felt on the inside on other characters, animals, and situations. For example, Jacob described August as “a force” and as a person who was “charming, gregarious, and handsome as the devil” who “radiated both authority and irresistible charisma” (284). Jacob went on to describe how August used these qualities of his to get what he wanted as “[August] refused to budge until [Marlena] married him” (284). Although, in the movie, none of this was said by Jacob. Rather, it was shown repeatedly by the way August himself told Jacob and Marlena that he would be nothing without Marlena as she was his “circus’s star attraction.” Also in the movie, August and Marlena were already married but that didn’t stop Marlena from wanting to marry someone else. Though some scenes were told and shown differently, the book allowed the reader to understand characters, in words, told by a main character, who were acquainted with these characters, in a more effective way than the movie. The movie drifted from emphasizing traits of characters but focused more on detailed actions of characters all throughout of the
Primarily, when you have schizophrenia you may think of strangers as very vague and “may often think that people are after [you]” (Schizophrenia 1) . In an article called “Schizophrenia” it claims that “the defining factor of paranoid schizophrenia is absurd or suspicious ideas and beliefs. “Delusions of persecution are the most frequent theme” (Schizophrenia 1), ( delusion of persecution is the belief that someone, without any evidence is going to harm him or her or someone else. )this fits Jacob perfectly as he had preposterous ideas and plots to get rid of a “killer”, that he
In a recent interview for “Collider.comâ€, 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. Finally, he decided to play the role of Jacob Jankowski in a film adaptation directed by Francis Lawrence, “Water for Elephantsâ€. Why did Robert Pattinson choose to act an orphaned and impecunious Cornell veterinary student who earned a living as a vet in a traveling circus? In what way did this character attract him? What would a Polish American’s life be like during the
Jacob presents a more “freedom” lifestyle but still uniformed at the same time. Even with this modern style of living though, there were rules that may seem unusual to someone living in this time period.
This “support” from his mother, working as the removed hand of God, is what allows Jacob to survive.
One of the inherent conflicts in the story of Joseph is the tension between Joseph and his brothers. The tension between them is caused by both Jacob and Joseph. First, Jacob shows favoritism toward Joseph, because he is the son of his favorite wife Rachel. Second, Joseph brings back bad reports when he is out pasturing with his brothers. However, what truly increased the hatred and jealousy was the Joseph’s dreams. The author notes that when Joseph recounts the dreams, “they hated him even more (Gen. 37:8).” Their jealousy for Joseph is strong enough that they are willing to murder him. However, they decide to instead sell him into slavery, and convince Jacob that he was killed.
As mentioned before, Jacob is the youngest child of the family. He is fighting for attention from his siblings and his parents almost every day. Most of his art projects are displayed around the house, along with his sibling’s art. He does fight for attention from his