Water for Elephants

Jacob Jankowski is unsure of his actual age. He’s around 90 and resides in an assisted living facility. Jacob misses his wife, who died of cancer, and he hates the mushy, bland food at the facility. Jacob is recovering from a hip fracture and must use a wheelchair and walker. One night at dinner, he notices that a circus has come to town. Jacob is so excited that the nurses think he’s having a heart attack. The other residents reminisce about their younger days, when they looked forward to attending the circus. A new resident, Joseph McGuinty, says that he once carried the water for the elephants in a circus. Given the amount of water elephants require, Jacob knows McGuinty is lying to impress the ladies and calls him out in front of everyone. McGuinty insists he’s not lying, and the argument escalates, ending with McGuinty falling from his wheelchair and Jacob being escorted back to his room to eat his dinner alone. The nurse brings him fruit, which he savors, and he almost tells her about his time in the circus. Jacob thinks about the pain of Aging and how the ghosts of his past haunt him.

In 1931, Jacob is 23 and is approaching graduation from veterinary school at Cornell University. After graduating, he’ll join his father in the family practice. While attending a lecture, he tries not to think about his attraction to his girlfriend, Catherine Hale, who sits next to him, and he laments his virginity. Dean Wilkins summons Jacob to his office and tells him that both his parents were killed instantly in a car accident when a local farmer, who was driving on the wrong side of the road, collided with them. Jacob is taken to the morgue to identify their bodies. Ladies from his family’s church bring him food and arrange for him to stay with Jim and Mabel Neurater. When Jacob attends the reading of the will, he learns that his parents were bankrupt. Because of the Depression, his father had been accepting other forms of payment instead of cash, and the bank where their money was saved had failed. Like everyone in the community, his parents struggled due to the Depression. They mortgaged their house to pay for Jacob’s college tuition. Jacob returns to school to take his exams. Contemplating the collective losses from the Depression, however, he has an anxiety attack and abruptly leaves without taking the exams. As Jacob ambles through town trying to formulate a plan for his life, he wanders beyond the edge of town and hears the unmistakable rumble of an oncoming train. When the train thunders past, he jumps aboard without even thinking, seeing only an immediate escape from his pain: “There are people on that train. It matters not a whit where it’s going because wherever it is, it’s […] toward civilization, food, possible employment” (24). He lands in a car with several other men. One man, named Blackie, drunkenly attacks him. Another, named Camel, intervenes and saves Jacob from being thrown out the door. Camel introduces two other men, Grady and Bill. Jacob learns that he has inadvertently jumped aboard a circus train headed for Utica. Camel says he’ll take Jacob to meet Ringmaster Alan Bunkel, or “Uncle Al,” the following day.

Jacob awakens the next day on the train, as men flood out of the cars to begin setting up the tents. Camel takes Jacob to a man named “Crazy Joe,” who he hopes will help him find a job. Camel introduces Jacob as a “First of May” (32), meaning that he has never worked in a circus. They meet a man named Will, who tells Jacob to watch his back. The horses mesmerize Jacob as workers parade them from the cars. They find Joe, and he hires Jacob to muck out the horse carriages. The chow flag goes up, signaling that it’s time to eat. Camel finds Jacob a meal ticket and explains that the performers, called “kinkers,” arrive and eat separately from the workers, or “baggage stock.” Camel says he heard that the food at “Big Bertha,” or Ringling Brothers, is lavish. Jacob almost gets kicked out of line for not knowing the name of his department, but Camel saves him.

Camel introduces Jacob to the sideshow director, Cecil. Jacob will help herd the crowds into the sideshow tent. A guy named Wade offers to let Jacob peek inside the menagerie. Jacob takes in the vast array of animals, but he also sees a beautiful woman working with the horses. Jacob is instantly attracted to her. She reminds him of Catherine. Outside, Cecil tempts the circus attendees with the sideshow attractions, which are a sham. When one man gets angry and demands that they return his money, Jacob subdues him until security arrives. Cecil is impressed and offers him a security job during a private act. Jacob watches as a large-breasted lady named Barbara performs a “striptease” for a male audience. The audience loves it, and Jacob is aroused. The announcer says Barbara is available for private services later.

Jacob is paid one dollar to guard Barbara’s tent while she performs as a sex worker. The big tent show goes on, and Jacob watches from afar. Camel joins him. He’s limping from the day’s work. He offers Jacob a drink of “jake,” a poisonous extract, as alcohol is illegal due to the Prohibition. Camel worries that he’s getting too old to do the more physical jobs and may be nearing the end of his circus work. They watch the workers disassemble the tents, noting how the performers and workers don’t mix: “The drab workmen scuttle all around, occupying the same universe but seemingly on a different dimension” (51). Jacob tells Camel he went to college, and Camel says he has a son Jacob’s age. A man named Earl must carry Camel to the train. Jacob has a tough time sleeping in the cramped car, and he hears someone speaking Polish. Earl awakens Jacob in the middle of the night and forcibly takes him to meet Al. Al is playing cards with several men; one of them, named August, oversees the horses. Al questions Jacob about his intentions, and after they talk, he tells Earl to throw the college boy off the train—but August stops him. August asks what Jacob was studying. When he tells him he’s a veterinarian, August reminds Al that their other vet left and that they may have an ailing horse. Al agrees to keep him. August guides Jacob on a treacherous walk across the top of the train cars to his new lodging with the horses. Kinko the clown and his dog, Queenie, also stay there. Kinko isn’t happy to have a roommate. Jacob falls into a fitful sleep and dreams about his mother and Barbara.