Water for Elephants (2006) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• Jacob Jankowski: An old man, the narrator, who lives in an assisted living facility. He recalls his life as a circus veterinarian. He had almost achieved his degree at Cornell when his parents die, causing him to run away and join the circus.
• Marlena Rosenbluth: Nee L'Arche. August's wife and a performer in the circus. She works with the horses and Rosie, the elephant.
• August Rosenbluth: Marlena's husband and antagonistic head trainer at the circus.
• Alan Bunkel: Owner of the circus. His nickname is "Uncle Al".
• Rosie: She is the circus Elephant they pick up at a crashed circus. She becomes the biggest act of the show with Marlena, and has an adorable personality of her own.
• Walter: Also known as Kinko. A dwarf performer in the circus. Queenie's owner.
• Camel: Camel isn't a performer, he works on setting up the tents and getting the animals fed and keeping their stalls clean.
• Grady: A working man on the circus. Friend of Camel and Jacob.
• Barbara: An exotic dancer of the circus. Inhabits the "cooch" tent. Friends with Kinko.
• Rosemary: One of the only nice nurses at the retirement facility that Mr. Jankowski resides. She is a grandmother, 47 years old, but seems very young to Jacob.
• Charlie O'Brien: A manager of a circus in present-day.
• Lucinda: A heavier-set circus performer. She is the circus freak Fat Lady, The Lovely Lucinda. She is a main attraction, and dies later on in the book.
• Otis: A circus employee.
• Queenie: Walter's dog. She's part of his act in the circus.
• Diamond Joe: He's a tall man and a circus worker.
• Grzegorz Grabowski: Also known as Greg. Polish circus employee who helps care for Rosie. He makes Jacob realize why Rosie can't understand him.
• Clive: The man in the circus for whom the large breed cats are his special care.
• Dr. Rashid: The doctor at Jacob's retirement facility. Jacob despises her.
• Norma: One of the women at the nursing home.
• Wade: A circus employee.
• Dean Wilkins: A dean at Cornell University.
• Simon Jankowski: Jacob's son.
• Hazel: A resident at the nursing home where Jacob Jankowski lives.
• Queenie: Walter's dog that stands by his every move and protects her owner.
• Blackie: Blackie is a very mean man who works on the train. He is a security circus worker and his job is to throw people off the train or "redlight" people off the train.
• Earl: Security for the circus.
• Caroline: A girl Jacob knew in the beginning of the book. He met her in college.
• Joseph McGuinty: A retired lawyer who lives in the same assisted living residence as Jacob.

Quotes edit see section history

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• “Nothing happens to me anymore. That's the reality of getting old, and I guess that's really the crux of the matter. I'm not ready to be old yet.”

  Jacob

• “In the entire history of our marriage, it was the only secret I kept from her, and eventually it became impossible to fix. With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.”

  Jacob

• “Age is a terrible thief. Just when you're getting the hang of life, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back. It makes you ache and muddies your head and silently spreads cancer throughout your spouse.”

  Jacob

• “Although there are times I'd give anything to have her back, I'm glad she went first. Losing her was like being cleft down the middle. It was the moment it all ended for me, and I wouldn't have wanted her to go through that. Being the survivor stinks.”

  Jacob

• “Keeping up the appearance you have all your marbles is hard work but important.”

  Jacob

• “He may be wrong in the details, but he's not lying...He really believes that he carried water for the elephants.”

  Rosemary (nurse)

• “Sometimes when you get older...things you think on and wish on start to seem real. And then you believe them, and before you know it they become part of your history, and if someone challenges you on them and says they're not true- why you get offended.”

  Rosemary (nurse)

• “No woman is worth two bottles of whiskey.”

  Camel

• “I want her to melt into me, like butter on toast. I want to absorb her and walk around for the rest of my days with her encased in my skin.”

  Jacob about Marlena

• “Sometimes I think that if I had to choose between an ear of corn or making love to a woman, I'd chose the corn. Not that I wouldn't love to have a final roll in the hay - I am a man yet, and some things never die - but the thought of those sweet kernels bursting between my teeth sure sets my mouth to watering. It's fantasy, I know that. Neither will happen. I just like to weigh the options, as though I were standing in front of Solomon: a final roll in the hay or an ear of corn. What a wonderful dilemma. Sometimes I substitute an apple for the corn.”

  old Jacob

• “"I remember leaving my house for the last time, bundled up like a cat on the way to the vet. As the car pulled away, my eyes were so clouded by tears I couldn't look back."”

  Jacob

• “"My real stories are all out of date. So what if I can speak firsthand about the Spanish flu, the advent of the automobile, world wars, cold wars, guerrilla wars, and Sputnik-that's all ancient history now. But what else do I have to offer? Nothing happens to me anymore. That's the reality of getting old, and I guess that's really the crux of the matter. I'm not ready to be old yet."”

  Jacob

• “"Forever might be next week for me"”

  Jacob

• “"Those were the salad days, the halycon years! The sleepless nights, the wailing babies; the days the interior of the house looked like it had been hit by a hurricane;.....Even when the fourth glass of milk got spilled in a single night, or the shrill screeching threatened to split my skull,....they were good years, grand years."”

  Jacob

• “Dear God. Not only am I unemployed and homeless, but I also have a pregnant woman,bereaved dog,elephant, and eleven horses to take care of.”

  Jacob Jankowski

• “I used to think I preferred getting old to the alternative, but now I'm not sure. Sometimes the monotony of bingo and sing-alongs and ancient dusty people parked in the hallway in wheelchairs makes me long for death. Particularly when I remember that I'm one of the ancient dusty people, filed away like some worthless tchotchke.”

  Jacob Jankowski

• “All right. Let's go! Knock 'em dead! But don't, if you know what I mean.”

  Uncle Al

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Cornell University: the private university in Ithaca, New York, where Jacob Jankowski studied Veterinary Medicine.
• Providence: one of the stops the circus will be making, where Camel's son is supposed to pick him up
• Sarasota
• Modena
• Florida
• Joliet: a place where an abandoned and run down circus was left. It is where they pick up Rosie (the elephant), and other performers.

Organizations edit see section history

• The Benzini Brother's Most Spectacular Show on Earth: The circus that Jacob runs away to join.
• Ringling Brothers: A famous circus, one of the best and well-known. It is the only circus that Jacob has been to before joining Benzini Brothers. It's the circus that the Benzini Brother's Circus strives to be. Uncle Al, the owner of Benzini Brother's would do anything just to emulate Ringling's acts.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Rubes: Civilian circus-goers.
• Kinkers: Performers.
• Sarsaparilla: Soda, old fashion root beer, pop, soft drink
• Foundering: To be afflicted with laminitis, the inflammation of the laminated tissue that attaches the hoof to the foot of a horse.
• Pellagra: A vitamin deficiency disease most commonly caused by a chronic lack of niacin (vitamin B3) in the diet.
• Apopleptic: Being greatly excited or angered or showing signs of a stroke
• Hostler: An archaic term for a groom or stableman.
• Extrapolate: To deduce, infer, generalize, or hypothesis, using known facts to guess the unknown.
• Bowdlerize: To edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate.
• Pablum: This is a term Jacob uses to describe the food he is eating at the nursing home, no matter what it is; a bland diet that does not require chewing; advised for those with intestinal disorders
• Meriscus: Describe this term.
• Barrister
• Pneumatic
• Metastatic
• Valise: a small overnight carrying case (a bit of an old fashioned term)
• Jodhpur
• First of May: A "newbie" to the circus.
• Rosin
• Fetlock
• Redlighting: When a peformer or circus worker is thrown off the train while it is moving. People are usually redlighted because of their inability to work or perform, or because they angered Uncle Al, August, or another high-ranking head, or because they are a stowaway.

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Hope through Difficult Times.: The whole time in his home, the nurses treat him like he is not a man. They treat him as if less than. He is going through a hard time at his home. He feels alone and like a job that his kids have to attend to. Rosemary, the only respectful nurse, is his hope. She doesn't talk down to him, but as an equal. She treats him to food that otherwise the home wouldn't provide; such as fresh fruit... and not from a can! When Rosemary tells him that she is moving he begins to think how is he going to survive here without her?
• Life and Death: This book is a back and forth game of life and death, the novel wouldn't even have happened if it weren't for the death's in the beginning. From the death of the circus, a new life for Jacob and Marlena is born. And there's a struggle for Jacob to stay alive during the entire novel.
• Isolation: the feeling Jacob has as he sits in the nursing home, realizing how old and alone he is
• Sex: a fond memory for Jacob
• What Goes Around Comes Around: Describe this theme.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Sara Gruen (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Quill Award (2006: General Fiction)
• Alex Awards (2007)
• New York Times Bestseller List (2006)
• Book Sense Pick (June 2006, #1)
• Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year (2006, Nominated)
• ALA Outstanding Books for the College Bound (2009: Arts & Humanities)
• Great Lakes Book Award (2007)
• Bronte Prize (Finalist, 2007)
• Friends of American Writers Award (2007)
• BookBrowse Awards (2007: Best Book)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3607.R696 W38
• Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

This book is not appropriate for children due to the sexual content (and some of the graphic nature of the descriptions) and the inappropriate language used.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Literary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Authors, A-Z › ( G )
• Books › Romance › Contemporary
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Classics

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Sara Gruen: Author's official website
• NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) Official Site: Follow link for a NaNoWriMo Pep Talk by famed NaNoWriMo participant Sara Gruen. The people at NaNoWriMo have repeatedly asserted that Water For Elephants started as NaNoWriMo novel (a novel whose first draft--or at least 50,000 words of it--was written entirely in the month of November, as part of the annual novel-writing challenge, but author Sara Gruen never publicly confirms this...nor denies it).

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Water for elephants (IMDb)
• Water For Elephants (2011) (IMDb): Director: Francis Lawrence Writers: Richard LaGravenese (screenplay), Sara Gruen (novel) Stars:Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christoph WaltzCast: Hal Holbrook (Old Jacob Jankowski), Paul Schneider (Charlie)

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