Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Essay Example The authors could be influenced by certain current or historical events, culture of a particular time, lives of great people and many more factors to come up with those works. This influence can enable novel writers to create a more authentic or at the same time interestingly fictionalized plot as well as script for their novels. The incorporation and there resultant reflection of culture, customs, and other intricate aspects of a particular time, in a novel, which was set in that particular time, is one of the key requisites to become a â€Å"Great American Novel†. â€Å"From the late nineteenth century to World War I, and even after, there was much discussion of the great American novel. Eventually the idea died†¦But in recent years the idea, though not the phrase, has returned to life† (O’Connor 1). Thus, when a novel written by an American novelist aptly reflects and incorporates various cultural aspects and perspectives of American people of a particula r time, in which the novel is set, it can be considered for elevation as â€Å"Great American Novel†. Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen and set during the Depression era of 1930s, is one such novel, as it aptly reflects sizable aspects of that time, even while telling a romanticism filled human story about an individual’s want to find a place, which he can call his â€Å"home†.... In the current times, aged people are having longer life-spans because of the advancing medical treatments and with the working sons and daughters of those people unable to personally take care of them, old age nursing homes are becoming the last refuge for these old people. In the past, the family had major responsibility for taking care of its elderly, particularly the sick elderly, but that has minimized sizably in the current times. (Shanas). With the central protagonist being portrayed as a 90 years old man with no caretakers, he was placed in the nursing home. Thus, as the author ‘sets’ the older Jacob’s character at the turn of the 20th century, he has incorporated the cultural element of old age nursing homes. The way Jacob was treated by the staffs at the nursing home as an old man, who does not have an independent thinking only pushes him to go in search of a favorable ‘home’. One of the key themes of the plot, as it starts from the elderly Jacob is the conflicts that arose because one’s need for independence and self worth. As Jacob is in his nineties, and in the final lap of the death race, he feels that his old age is restricting him from doing anything independently, with the staffs taking him for granted. â€Å"Age is a terrible thief. Just when you think you're getting the hang of it, it knocks your legs out from under you and stoops your back.† (Gruen 12). He thinks because of his old age only, the staffs restrict him. Jacob gets angry as the staffs keep opening his window blinds, without ever asking him about his preference. Jacob totally opposes this way of treating him like a child, and wants his opinion to be heard and more importantly wants to go and explore various places in the outside world. As Jacob recollects the story in