Jacob is working overtime as the narrator of Water for Elephants. Younger Jacob and older Jacob each gets to have his say: they both have their own trials and tribulations, and they both tell the s...

Marlena is gutsy and beautiful: what a combination. She seems pretty modern for a woman of the 1930s. She rebelliously ran away from home as a teenager, married August, and joined the circus. And s...

August is a classic antagonist. He's the straight-up villain of Water for Elephants. He's a wife-beater, an animal abuser, and a downright cruel individual. At numerous points in the book, people t...

Walter starts out as Jacob's enemy and ends up as his friend. (Aw.) The path is somewhat arduous and tough, though. It takes a long time for Walter to trust Jacob. At first he doesn't even let Jaco...

Camel is one of the first people Jacob meets at the circus and one of the first to be kind to him. Indeed, if it weren't for Camel, Jacob wouldn't have made it on board as a circus worker at all. T...