Reflection of "Water for Elephants"

I have to say that Water for Elephants is so far my favorite book I’ve read in English 110. Maybe this is because there is an element of romance in it. I’m generally not a reader of romance novels, but maybe the fact that the love triangle between three characters in this story was present but not over-powering made it especially enjoyable for me. At any rate, this is definitely a great read and I’d recommend this book to anybody.

The basic plot outline of this book is as follows:

Jacob is an elderly man living a life of relative solitude in a nursing home. He does not have very many friendly acquaintances, albeit for one of the nurses, Rosemary. His family neglects to visit him, which has significant ramifications considering that they day that they have planned to visit was the day that the circus was in town. Overall, Jacob is a sarcastic, fairly pessimistic old man whose only joy is hidden in his memories of life in the circus. The story consists of an account of Jacob’s life in the elderly facility along with flashbacks from his circus days. In these flashbacks, Jacob explains how his parents both tragically died in a car accident while he was away at college. Jacob has already been distinguished as somewhat of an outcast at school, especially when it comes to his virginity. Now that his parents were both gone, he really had no one to feel close to. This caused him to become somewhat of a recluse and eventually, hitch a ride on a travelling circus train. As it turns out, most of the people already employed by this circus production are misfits themselves. Jacob becomes employed by the circus as a veterinarian, despite the fact that he never earned his degree. He shares a train car with Walter, a midget who works as a circus clown and whose best friend is his terrier dog. Jacob befriends a man named August, who “shows him the ropes” around the area. Their relationship becomes strained when Jacob falls in love with August’s wife, Marlena. Both Jacob and Marlena have a passion and deep connection with animals, especially a lively elephant named Rosie. Marlena performs with Rosie and Jacob greatly anticipates every one of their acts. Uncle Al, the headmaster of the circus, becomes somewhat aware of Jacob and Marlena’s affection towards each other. He notices quite soon that Marlena and August begin to quarrel and reject each other. Marlena eventually takes matters into her own hands. One night, chaos has irrupted in the menagerie where all of the animals are kept; Marlena hits August over the head with a large stake and kills him. In the end, Marlena and Jacob marry and live happily together with a few of the retired circus animals. As this flashback ends, Jacob is back in his nursing home. Although he is not content with his personal life, he finds tranquility in the visiting circus. In the end, he realizes that the circus was and always will be his true home.

I have to say that I hardly learned anything new or academically valuable from this book. It was, however, the most enjoyable read. I would love to read more novels by the author, Sara Gruen.