“Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen is the story of a young bereft man who finds himself employed as a veterinarian in a Depression-era traveling circus. Confused, moneyless and utterly robbed of the promising future he had always anticipated, he is launched into a new life filled with unlikely friends, the troubling politics surrounding worker and animal treatment, physical abuse and a complicated and dangerous romance.
In addition to the dramas between characters and the adventures the main character Jacob is exposed to in the big top, “Water for Elephants” also grapples with some historically significant issues. Class differences, poverty, animal abuse and alcoholism are some of the main obstacles that Jacob must deal with.
While this book presents a virtual barrage of excitement and traumatic experiences, as a whole, the characterization, psychological development and dialogue remain remarkably juvenile.
Throughout the story, Jacob acquires all kinds of emotional baggage that the book completely fails to deal with. Under normal circumstances: that is, the intelligent writing one might expect from a bestseller: readers would be impressed with the emotional gravitas of the novel’s most significant events. Instead, we reach the end of the story wondering what happened to all the mental trauma that should be present.
In the beginning of the book, Jacob suffers the death of both his parents, realizes he has no money and loses his chance to become a professional veterinarian. Later on, he endures numerous instances of physical violence, the loss of close friends, the sudden realization of sexuality and alcohol and the torture of unrequited love. One would think he’d be a complete mess after all this.
Rather, the events occur then vanish, never to be dealt with. The character and the story, therefore, lack an understanding of emotional consequences in addition to a great deal of feeling.
“Water for Elephants” tries to achieve significant emotional and psychological depth, but really only manages to skim the surface of it. A parent’s death, a haunting past, a dangerous love triangle, the drama of friendship: any one of these things would be enough to write a book about. Gruen throws them all in together, but fails to truly explore or resolve any of them.
In addition to these annoyances, the dialogue throughout the novel is a bit amateurish and often cliché. I can understand wanting a story to be accessible, but a line such as, “Her breasts are small and round, like lemons” in the middle of a serious romance scene is simply unforgivable. Many of the characters themselves are also frustratingly simplistic and even stereotypical. The beautiful, weak and helpless female coupled with the strong, assertive male are enough to make you roll your eyes.
In conclusion, while “Water for Elephants” is an interesting and relatively fast-paced story, it lacks the depth, character development and intelligent writing essential in good novels. Read it quickly for fun if you have to, but don’t expect to be moved at all.
