I meant what I said, and I said what I meant…
An elephant’s faithful–one hundred per cent!
~Theodor Seuss Geisel, Horton Hatches the Egg, 1940
1. Did you like the book?
2.To what extent do the chapters concerning the elderly Jacob enhance the chapters recounting the young Jacob’s experiences with the Benzini Brothers circus? In what ways do the chapters about the young Jacob contribute to a deeper understanding of the elderly Jacob’s life?
3.How does the quote from Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hatches the Egg in the novel’s epigraph apply to the novel’s theme? How are faithfulness and loyalty defined in Water for Elephants?
4. Who did you, upon reading the prologue, think murdered August? What effect did that opening scene of chaos and murder have on your reception of the story that follows?
5. Why was Jacob so angry when Mr. McGuinity lied about carrying water for circus elephants? Do you see similarities of spirit between the young Jacob and the old Jacob?
6, Looking at himself in the mirror, the old Jacob tries “to see beyond the sagging flesh.” But he claims, “It’s no good… I can’t find myself anymore. When did I stop being me?” How would you answer that question for Jacob or any individual, or for yourself?
7. In what ways and to what degree do Uncle Al’s maneuvers and practices regarding the defunct Fox Brothers circus reflect traditional American business practices? How would you compare his behavior with that of major businessmen and financiers of today? What alternative actions would you prefer?
8. How did you react to the redlighting of Walter and Camel, and eight others, off the trestle? How might we see Uncle Al’s cutthroat behavior as “an indictment of a lifetime spent feigning emotions to make a buck” (in the words of one reviewer)?
9. In his “Carnival of the Animals”, Ogden Nash wrote, “Elephants are useful friends.” In what ways is Rosie a “useful” friend? What is Rosie’s role in the events that follow her acquisition by Uncle Al?
10. In the words of one reviewer, Water For Elephants “explores…the pathetic grandeur of the Depression-era circus.” In what ways and to what extent do the words “pathetic grandeur” describe the world that Gruen creates in her novel?
11. At the end of his story Jacob says, “So what if I’m ninety-three? . . . why the hell shouldn’t I run away with the circus?” (pg. 331) What would you predict to be the elderly Jacob’s experiences after he runs away with the circus for the second time?
