The Elephant Man Analysis

Not surprisingly, elephants are known for being more emotional and empathetic animals than the rest. According the three articles, “Elephants Can Lend a Helping Trunk”, “Elephants Know When They Need a Helping Trunk in a Cooperative Task”, and “Elephants Console Each Other” elephants understand when they need each other’s assistance. All two authors describe the studies of elephant behavior differently, but with a similar purpose.

Description: August is Marlena’s husband and the head animal trainer. He is alternately charming and brutal, both to the humans and animals aboard the Benzini Brothers train. Later in the book, it is explained that he is a paranoid schizophrenic.

Throughout history the most famous poets have devoted their entire lives to literature and in doing so, have become very well known. George Orwell easily became one of the most famous poets of the modern century. Although he did not grow up as an avid writer, he quickly made a name for himself. The officer would write one of a kind stories about his own experiences and the lessons learned from them. Resulting in a great amount of attention and praise for his excellent work. Cindy Johnson, a biographer explains, “He wrote numerous essays and reviews over the years, developing a reputation for producing well-crafted literary criticism.” This obviously meaning that Orwell endured a great deal of criticism in his officer duties as well as in his writings. One of Orwell’s most famous poems is, Shooting An Elephant, in which he explains the messages of the effects of peer pressure, the realization of the importance of experiences long after they have happened, and the disappearance of imperialism.

In “Shooting an Elephant,” Orwell retold an occasion where he was struggling to come to a final decision of whether to shoot the elephant or not. With his final decision, the elephant finally lay dying in front of thousands of people. He said that he was forced to shoot it because the Burmese people were expecting him to do that. In addition, he also explained that he had to do it “to avoid looking like a fool” in front of the crowd (14). At first glance, one would think that it makes sense for him to kill the elephant to save his face, but that was not the case. He effectively uses this incident to demonstrate the “real nature of imperialism” (3), whereas the elephant represents the British Empire.

As the Battle of Britain rages on in England, young Nick Freestone is sent to Burma to live with his Dad. After a few days in Burma, the Japanese invade the country. Nick’s Dad is sent of to a prisoner of war camp, while Nick becomes a slave to the Japanese on his fathers plantation. But Nick has “an ace up his sleeve” that the Japs don’t know about. It is the tunnels throughout the plantation. Will Nick fight back, or will he escape.

Human beings have full control over their identities after they have received knowledge and have become shaped from external stimuli. These stimuli include the teaching process of humans which comes through tradition, schooling, and the actions of other humans and the influence of the organisms around them. Andrew Solomon, through “Son,” was able to use his experience of growing up and labeling himself as a gay dyslexic to show how his environment and knowledge had shaped his identity and how it was viewed by others with different identities. In “An Elephant Crackup,” Charles Siebert was able to explain how the other organisms or humans are able to form new identities for elephants over time by shaping them a new environment and having the elephants process it. In “Mind’s Eye,” Oliver Sacks had different case studies of blindness from different people and was able to show how each one experienced their blindness help shape and express their individual identities. The stimuli that becomes processed by a person in the situations, accounts, and studies of these works assist in the role of explaining the formulation of an identity.

As society has progressed, the evolution of imperialism has come to a point where people see it has pure history. It has vanished from our daily lives as we have not recently witness a country trying to dominate another. In “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, we are able to envision the lives of the Burmese as they were involuntarily controlled by the British. In the early 1900’s we are told a true story of Orwell himself where he was once established in Burma was apart of his military service. During his service, he describes his living situation by noting that the army as well as himself were not appreciated. He mentions, “As a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so.”(1) One day he

George Orwell, author of, "Shooting an Elephant" reveals his inner conflicts to the audience by offering in depth description, using intensity, and symbolism through the act of shooting the elephant. His narration helps him do so by giving descriptive scenarios in the story. Orwell's narration can also be used to examine the role of India and Great Britain at the story's time in history. The narration then allows Orwell to use symbolism in place of description. Orwell uses narration to help explain his inner conflicts and to what is happening in each setting of the story.

George Orwell’s 1930 short story “Shooting an Elephant,” demonstrates the total dangers of the unlimited authority a state has and the astounding presentment of “future dystopia”. In the story, Orwell finds himself to be in an intricate situation that involves an elephant. Not only does the fate of the elephant’s life lie in Orwell’s hands, he has an audience of people behind him cheering him on, making his decision much more difficult to make. Due to the vast crowd surrounding his thoughts, Orwell kills the elephant in the end, not wanting to disappoint the people of Burma. Orwell captures the hearts of readers by revealing the struggles he has while dealing with the burden of his own beliefs and morals.

During the book, “Small as an Elephant”, the main character Jack is introduced as a young boy, who at age 11 had figured out how to live on his own when his mom Rebecca went “spinning”. These were times when she would go off her pills, and leave for a couple of days at a time. This time, she left Jack at a campsite in Maine, where he had to avoid suspicion, and figure out a way to get food and survive with $14.63 that was left in his pocket.

For every activity one does, time is very important for the activity. In stories, chronology is especially important for it helps the reader understand what is happening but also gains a message from it. Chronological order is part of the plot diagram in any story where the story begins which takes the reader to rising action. The author of Elephant, Slawomir Mrozek and the author of The Secret Lost in the Water, Roch Carrier showed how chronology is very important to the story. These authors used different themes to portray chronology. This can be demonstrated through the loss of faith, psychology of believing and through appearance vs reality. Therefore, variations of chronology have been shown.

When it comes to Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and Fall by Colin McAdam, there are obvious similarities between the main characters. In Water for Elephants, we have Jacob and August, two men who are both in love with a girl named Marlena. In Fall, there is Noel and Julius, two boys who are both in love with a girl named Fall. As for the setting however, there is nothing to compare as in Water for Elephants, it is set at a circus in the 1930’s, whereas Fall is a modern story set in Ottawa. In addition to this difference, we can only see Jacob’s perspective (although we get to see his perspective from two different ages which is similar to Fall), but in Fall, we get the perspective of Julius, in his present teens and Noel from the future as an adult.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen features a combination of circus life in the early twentieth century and the life of an elderly man at a nursing home. The book tells the story of Jacob Jankowski and his journey in the 1930s from the end of his time at Cornell University – a very familiar institution – to his various experiences in the circus. It incorporates a variety of different events imbued with drama and conflict between characters and the animals in the menagerie. Gruen’s book is effective in contextualizing the historical circumstances of the time period, as well as conveying the lifestyle of those involved in the circus.

"A man far oftener appears to have a decided character from persistently following his temperament than from persistently following his principles" (Human, All Too Human). In the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, the story begins with a man named Jacob who recently loses his job and joins the circus as the vet. He soon meets a special elephant named Rosie. He learns how she deals with her rough life in the circus. August is the animal care taker of the circus that no one wants to mess with. He treats Rosie and others in a way that no one should be treated. Throughout the novel it shows how August interacts with other characters. August is a temperamental man that does now know how to deal with others and his emotions.

Individuals who face traumatic experiences are to the adverse effects of their memories due to the unpredictable nature of their trauma. Trauma manifests itself in the individual without having adverse effects on those surrounding the victim. Yet, there exists unity between the community and the individual in finding a solution to the traumatic experiences. In “An Elephant Crackup”, Charles Siebert discusses impact that elephants afflicted by traumatic experiences have on a herd while Martha Stout shows how people attempt to keep their traumatic experiences contained and the negative effects of such method. A community that wishes to protect their tradition tends to have an adverse effect on the individual because they value the group over the individual. The opposite also holds true because a community that incorporates the troubled individual provides security under which the individual can recover from their trauma. A community that provides this emotional shelter while also allowing the victim to discover their own path in overcoming traumatic experiences.