In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster identifies the five steps recognizable in almost every story involving a quest. In Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, main character Jacob goes on a quest to find himself after a tragic accident that causes him to lose both parents.
Our quester: Jacob Jankowski
A place to go: More like a place not to go! He wants to escape his normal life and future with no parents.
A stated reason to go there: Jacob is in veterinary school and plans to join his father’s practice after graduating. When his father suddenly dies, Jacob feels lost and without a place causing him to jump on a passing circus train.
Challenges and trials: Jacob starts facing the normal hardships of a traveling circus worker: cruel bosses, no pay, little room for sleeping, and stress.
The real reason to go: Having no plan for this on the outset of his journey, Jacob meets and falls in love with his bosses’ wife, Marlena.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment