Social classes are ways that our society groups individuals according to our standards of living or income. In the book, Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen writes about one person’s life, Jacob Jankowski, and the way social classes have shaped him. Two different phases of Jacob’s life are discussed: his past and his present. Both chapters of his life depict social classes and there effects on people. Social classes exist because society creates them; depending on the ways people deal with them, they can have good and bad effects.
Jacob Jankowski was born into a middle class family, on his way to become a veterinarian with an Ivy League education. When his parents died he lost everything and found himself working for a circus. His social class status immediately dropped to the lowest class. There were two levels of social classes on the circus train: the performers and the workers. Jacob was immediately classified as a worker because he did not have any money or any belongings. Camel, another roustabout (worker) on the train, was able to secure Jacob a job with the rest of them.
Once the leaders of the circus, Uncle Al and August, found out that Jacob was a veterinarian his social class stepped up a notch. He was allowed to share sleeping quarters with Walter Kinko, a performer. Walter still thought of Jacob as a roustabout and did not like the thought of them sharing rooms. Jacob was also allowed to eat in the performer’s tent and carry on regular conversations with the performers. When Jacob fell in love with Augusts’ wife, turmoil began between Jacob and August. This relationship made him drop back to low class.
Jacob falling in love with Marlena was a major turning point in the novel. It was uncommon for a middle class woman or performer to have a relationship with a working class man. This relationship made heads turn in both classes on and off the train. Jacob was constantly warned about the consequences but he was already in too deep. When they found out that Marlena was pregnant, they knew they had to escape and find somewhere to go. This was when it really set in that he was working class and no one was really able to help them.
The performers and the workers always experienced a kind of friction between them. Jacob had to work his way up the classes on the circus train. This made him appreciate the lower classes on the train and remain friendly with them. Jacob knew that performers did not interact with roustabouts but because he was once one of them, he knew them for who they were; not by their class level. This established a certain quality in Jacob that helped shape his future. Jacob had a better understanding of social classes than most people.
It is also interesting when it comes to payday that only the performers get regularly paid. The workers get “redlighted” and the majority of the time they would go for up to four weeks with out pay. When payday came around for Jacob, he did not get paid because of his class level. This was intriguing because being the circus vet, he was above the roustabouts but somehow not at the same level as the performers. It was almost as if he were in an entire class of his own.
In the present time of Gruen’s novel, Jacob is in a nursing home waiting for the circus to come to town. It is interesting to observe the social classes that exist in the nursing home as well. The nurses and doctors represent the middle class or superior class while the patients represent the under class. The nurses tend to treat the patients like children and usually do not allow them to make decisions for themselves.
Several instances occur where Jacob gets very aggravated with the nurses not allowing him to do what he wanted to do. When another patient was telling lies about carrying water for elephants, Jacob called him out on it because he knew he was lying. This prompted the nurses to immediately remove him from the table and take him back to his room. The nurses punished him like he was a child and did not allow him to even explain himself. Many times Jacob would try to walk down the hallway to peer out the window and a nurse would instantly bring him his wheelchair because they did not think he could walk on his own.
Rosemary, Jacob’s favorite nurse, appears to be what Jacob was in his past. She is the middle-man between the two classes. Rosemary always smoothes things over between the other nurses and Jacob in order to keep the peace. She also treats Jacob like an adult instead of a child and allows him to do things his way. She even snuck food to his room that he was normally not allowed to have in order to make him more comfortable. It is very disappointing to learn that Rosemary will soon be leaving and Jacob will be left with the other nurses. I think this is why he left with the circus in the end; he knew she would not be there and did not feel he had much to go back to.
Social classes are rarely a good aspect of communities. They create prejudice and hostility between people who do not know each other’s situation. In Jacob’s situation, working his way up the social classes reshaped his life and made him a better person. If everyone worked their way up and were not simply born into wealth, perhaps more people would appreciate the working class and blue collar people. Other people who remain in the lower class or are always in the upper class never learn to appreciate the value of other people. Social classes will always exist because society will always have the millionaires and the burger flippers. Whether this is good or bad is determined by how a person views the other classes and their individual worth.
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