Water for Elephants Analysis

The Benzini Brothers' Circus / A Nursing HomeCircus LifeLet's start with the circus, because that's just way more fun. In the part of the story set in the 1930s, the setting is vivid and colorful;...

First Person (Central Narrator / Jacob)The narrative technique of Water for Elephants is more complicated than it might appear appears. Sure, there's just one narrator throughout, Jacob, who tells...

The title, Water for Elephants, is almost a little inside joke with the reader… once we've finished the book, that is. Jacob, the book's narrator and protagonist, worked as a vet and trainer of s...

We sure do love us some Dr. Seuss, and so does Sara Gruen, apparently. Check out the epigraph:I meant what I said, and I said what I meant …An elephant's faithful – one hundred per cent! (Theod...

With two narratives come two endings. That's right: bonus ending. And like many books, Water for Elephants sneaks in an extra ending or two, just for fun. Just when you think the story might be o...

(4) Base CampThis book shouldn't stump you too much. On the one hand, it moves back and forth in time, with an aging narrator who sometimes forgets where and when he is. And in the scenes set in th...