Water for Elephants: Analysis of Major Characters

Author: Sara Gruen

First published: 2006

Genre: Novel

Locale: Norwich, New York; Ithaca, New York; Utica, New York; Joliet, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; Terre Haute, Indiana; Dayton, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Hartford, Connecticut

Plot: Adventure; romance

Time: 1931 and 2001

Jacob Jankowski, a retired veterinarian. Ninety-three years old in 2001, Jacob, though withered and frail, is otherwise in good health and is feisty and cranky. A widower and the father of five children who are now growing old themselves, he resides in an assisted living facility for the aged and sometimes longs for death. When a circus sets up nearby, Jacob becomes nostalgic. He reminisces about a time seventy years before when for several months during the Great Depression he ministered to the needs of the animals for a shabby traveling circus and sideshow, Benzini Brothers Circus, billed as the Most Spectacular Show on Earth—a vivid experience that deeply affected him in a variety of ways.

Rosemary, a nurse at the assisted living facility. A large African American woman in her late forties, she has been married for more than twenty-five years and is a grandmother. Rosemary treats Jacob with respect and kindness. She is planning on leaving the facility soon and moving elsewhere

Marlena Rosenbluth, an elephant and horse rider with Benzini Brothers. Twenty-one years old in 1931, she is from a Catholic family and has been married for four years to August Rosenbluth, who is a decade older than she. Marlena's parents disown her when she leaves home to marry a Jewish man. She meets Jacob when he tends to her favorite show horse, Silver Star, who is terminally injured. Marlena rides Rosie in an entertaining and popular act after the elephant joins the circus. Jacob defends Marlena from her abusive husband and engages in a vicious brawl with him. The two young people inevitably draw closer together, eventually falling in love. They marry after August's sudden and violent death and enjoy a long, happy life together.

August Rosenbluth, superintendent of animals and head of the circus menagerie. In his early thirties, August is large and blustery. A moody, unpredictable man, he ranges in temperament from friendly and generous to violent and destructive, particularly when he has been drinking. He is exceedingly jealous of his young wife and engages in a brutal fight with Jacob over the affections of Marlena. He also mistreats the circus animals, especially Rosie the elephant—hurting her with a hook and burning her with cigarettes. These are acts that ultimately cost him his life.

Alan J. “Uncle Al” Bunkel, ringmaster of the circus. A man with a large belly, a waxed mustache, and a penetrating voice, he dresses in typical garb for the shows, complete with top hat, scarlet coat, jodhpurs, and boots. Though outwardly benevolent, he is at heart a crook. Uncle Al regularly acquires at bargain prices animals, workers, and equipment from other failing circuses, cheats employees of their wages, and has complainers or troublemakers “redlighted”—hurled from the moving circus train. During a stampede of animals at the circus, a herd of zebras tramples Uncle Al, who has already been garroted to death.

Camel, a circus roustabout. Jacob's mentor and guide, Camel is an older worker and World War I veteran who is also the estranged father of a boy in his early twenties who lives in Iowa. A devoted alcoholic, Camel has a number of physical problems and becomes partially paralyzed after drinking tainted liquor. Jacob, out of a sense of obligation for Camel's help in familiarizing him with circus life, hides and cares for the helpless man in a futile attempt to prevent him from being ejected from the show.

Walter, a circus performer. Less than four feet tall, Walter entertains audiences as the clown Kinko. He is at first hostile toward Jacob because he is forced to share his train boxcar living quarters with the young veterinarian, but they become friends after Jacob cures Walter's dog, Queenie, of diarrhea. Despite Jacob's vigilance, Walter, Camel and other employees are thrown from the moving train, which kills Walter.

Blackie, a circus employee. A huge, brutal bearded man, Blackie serves as enforcer for the show's management, beating up or expelling workers as necessary.

Barbara, an employee with the circus sideshow. Barbara, a buxom thirty-something redhead, serves as a stripper, and after the show performs sexual acts with customers for two dollars in what is called the cooch tent. She and a prostitute friend Nell relieve a drunken Jacob of his virginity.

Grzegorz “Greg” Grabowski, Polish ,a circus employee. He is one of the show's “patches,” a public relations and advance man who helps deflect criticism or smooth over difficulties when the circus comes into conflict with a town. Grabowski informs fellow Pole Jacob that the elephant Rosie is very smart but only understands commands given in Polish.

Rosie, a female elephant. About fifty years of age, Rosie is acquired from a failing circus and is believed to be not very intelligent, though she becomes a prime attraction for the show. However, it is later discovered that she only follows orders given in Polish. The elephant takes revenge on August for the animal handler's constant abuse by killing him during an animal stampede under the big top.

Charlie O'Brien, manager of the present-day circus that is setting up in 2001 near Jacob's retirement home. After Jacob uses his walker to surreptitiously leave the home and visit the show, O'Brien generously allows Jacob to enter the circus for no charge. Charlie listens to Jacob describe his time with Benzini Brothers and is aware of the stampede of 1931. When a policeman comes to the circus looking for Jacob, Charlie claims that the old man is his father who has suffered a stroke, and he offers Jacob the opportunity to become a ticket-taker with his circus, an offer Jacob eagerly accepts.