Water For Elephants

"Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen is a very interesting novel that I am currently reading. The story takes place in the early 1900s, and is about a boy named Jacob Jankowski who jumps onto a circus train after leaving veterinary school. Jacob felt depressed after his parents' tragic death so he cannot focus during his finals and illegally jumps onto a circus train. He is then found out to be a veterinarian and he starts to take care of the circus animals. It is then that he meets the very fascinating character of August. I became very interested in August after I realized that his mood switched so drastically from day to day. I've always wanted to be a little unpredictable but all of my friends can tell what I'm thinking or know how I'll feel most of the time.

August changes from a very angry and awful man to having a sweet and generous personality. When Jacob first meets August, he is very kind to Jacob and leads him on an adventure through the train cars to go meet Kinko. He doesn't ever threaten to throw Jacob off the train as it is famously known they do at this particular circus. Instead, August puts his trust in Jacob and lets him join his equestrian team by helping the horses and, the other animals. As August leads Jacob through the train cars he says, "Turn around. I want you to see something...It's a beautiful sight, isn't it, Jacob?". This shows that August wanted to show Jacob a nice sight even though August didn't have to be nice to Jacob at all.

However, August has a very vindictive side towards how he acts towards others that are not Jacob or Marlena, August's wife. At one point, August tells Jacob that he needs to leave the animals out in the extremely hot weather without water or else Jacob will be kicked out of the circus. August explains, "'you better believe that Al is going to mess with you. Do you understand?' he speaks through clenched teeth. 'Do...you...understand?' he repeats, coming to a full stop after each word. I stare straight into his unblinking eyes".  This shows that August gets extremely angry when he is tested by anyone including Jacob.

I also discovered that August is very unstable when he is drunk. When August starts to dance with Marlena he suddenly starts staring intensely and he begins to nod or act very silly. He then almost begins to cry before he falls down onto his bed and doesn't move for the rest of the night. After Marlena settles August into bed Jacob is confused by the whole situation. "What the hell was that?" Jacob finally blurts. Marlena suddenly looks tearful before she responds, "He's mercurial. He's capable of being the most charming man on earth. Like tonight. And, well, he has...moments like today. He nearly fed you to a cat".

I think that August is a very unstable character and will grow to become more unstable as the book progresses. There is a rising action in the air about the fact that there is a new elephant and August's behavior has been drastically changing from day to day as the plot continues. I think that August will have to learn to not take his temper out on the animals or his peers but as long as he continues treating others around him very poorly he will never learn his lesson.