The story water for elephants is told from a series of memories of Jacob Jankowski as a 93 year old man that is in a nursing home. in 1931 a woman named Catherine hale is taunting him Jacob thinks to himself how he’s still a virgin even though he is about to graduate and he is ashamed of it. The class got interrupted by the school dean who pulls jacob out of the class with something eagerly important to tell him. The dean tells him that both his parents have died and just like that Jacobs Jankowski’s whole world changes.
Jacob had to go back to his hometown so he could take a look at his parents bodies seeing his parents bodies just lying there makes him throw up. As you might think he must feel super alone. Jacob ends up going back to his old house where everything still looks the same way as if his parents were still living. Jacob is filled with grief because of the fact that his parents are dead People come help him and he finds out about his parents will. Times have been hard on his parents so they died with hardly any money his dad was too nice to people that couldn’t afford treatment.
It turns out that being nice was a bad idea now his family’s house and the veterinary practice are about to be seized. Jacob blames himself for going to such an expensive college. Jacob has gone back to school to finish his exam but since all that’s on his mind is his parents death he cannot concentrate. Jacob gets stressed because he has no concentrations so he gets up and walks out. He ends up wandering and ends up in a forest next to some train tracks. A train is about to pass by he tries a stunt to jump onto the moving train. He was lucky enough he made it onto the moving cart.
Jacob finds himself in a cart room with four guys. One of them furiously grabs him and tries to throw him off of the train. Another guy named Camel jumps into stop Blackie from throwing Jacob off of the train. Jacob doesn’t answer a lot of questions that they ask about him but camel lets him stick around suggesting that Jacob could work with them. They are all a part of a circus “The Benzini Brothers”. Jacob wakes up the next day and meets his roommate. Jacob and camel go walking through a field where everyone is helping set up the circus. Jacob immediately gets a job which is picking up the animal poop.
When jacob finished he is awfully hungry and he goes to eat not knowing how to pay for his food or knowing where he is supposed to be he get in trouble but he is new so camel handles it. That same afternoon Jacob gets another job which is helping Cecil getting the audience into the tent. Jacob ends up working a slide show where the air all around him smells like food. A guy named Wade tells Jacob to take a look at the animals while Jacob takes a look at the animals he sees this beautiful girl named marlena in a costume and is instantly taken by her looks.
Jacob realizes that something is wrong with the horses leg and he decides to takes a look he didnt say a nything but look at it. He lets it go perform then they re onto the next city. Camel took Jacob through the train carts and explains who everyone is and tells hims about the “knickers” which is performers but he can call them kinkers because they don’t like it. Jacob asks about the lady with the horses and Camel tells him to not even speak about her because she is August wife. Camel took Jacob to meet earl. Earl takes him into a room where he speaks to August Jacob says he is just “looking for work”.
They make Jacob leave and he instantly talks about how the horse which is the main attraction isn’t going to be able to walk in a few weeks. Jacob and August go take a look at the horse. August tells him that if he keeps his horse walking he has a steady job. The next morning August shows Jacob to Marlena. Jacob takes a look at the horse and his face isn’t so pleasing he didn’t want to say anything in front of Marlena but he tells August the horse has Laminitis. Jacob then goes to feed the cats and while he puts the food in it bites him.
August threatens him and tells him that his horse better have good treatment and better be ready for the next show. Jacob explains to Marlena that the right thing would be to put the horse down Marlena explains to him that, that will never happen there because August makes everyone work till they’re done to the ground. Jacob decides to take thing in his own manner and gets a gun and takes it back to where the horse is at and he shoots it. Jacob gets attacked and hung off of the cart because of it & August tells him that he got a penalty and might get thrown off the train while it’s moving because of what he did.
The next morning the train stops and August calls everyone over to show them some big news which was an elephant named Rosie. Jacob is left with rosie to take care of her and make her ready for the show. Jacob walked into his room and sees that there is a letter inviting him to August room. When jacob gets there he feels underdressed . Jacob sits with august and his wife and has a conversation about how august got the circus set up. They also talked about Jacob being the bow man for Rosie the elephant and he says “i don’t know anything about elephants”.
Jacob comes out saying he never finished cornell and august says do you think the fat lady weighs 800 pounds and his wife says no “she weighs 400”. August tells jacob that he has a lot of talent and they make a cheer to rosie which should be their new star act. Jacob dances around has some drinks with August then leaves the room. He walked into everyone that helps out in the circus having a huge celebration drinking and dancing. His roommate tells everyone to “make him feel like he’s at home”. Jacob wakes up the next morning with make up all over his face coming out of a box with everyone cheering for him.
Jacob goes with Rosie the elephant. August comes telling jacob that animals have to know who is in charge but he needs to get the bull hook Jacob then goes gets the bullhook and August makes him jab her with it so she could walk. Furiously august gets the hook and jabs rosie with it many times then she starts walking. That night jacob goes and takes care of the wounds on the elephant that august made. The next morning the elephant is in the show he starts walking into the tent then stops and August furiously gets the bull hook and jabs Rosie with it so rosie gets crazy and runs out to the city Jacob then has to go get her.
August is mad that rosie ran away and he needs to go punish her Jacob tries to stop him but he pushes jacob to the floor while he goes and beats Rosie with the bull hook for running off. Now August wife Marlena doesn’t want to talk to him because of that. Jacob takes care of rosie’s wounds with caramel while jacob is saying that next time he does that he will kill him. Jacob tells rosie commands in different language and she listens so Jacob shows August. So they have an celebration because now they know how to controll their star attraction.
Marlena tells jacob a devastating story about how she ended up on the train and jacob tells her that “she is a beautiful woman that deserves a beautiful life” and she ask him where was he when she was seventeen. & they go dance. Police break into the celebration that they were having and he runs off with August wife and kisses her. She tells Jacob “dont follow me” and she runs off. Jacob tells him self to let her go because it’s better off for him to do that and he goes takes care of rosie. The next morning his roommate wakes him up telling him something is wrong with camel he couldn’t walk because of the drink that he drinks to stop the hakes.
Jacob goes to tell Marlena that he is sorry for what happened but she acts as if she was never with him that night. That same afternoon Jacob and August are training Rosie for the next show. August tells jacob that he was worried about Marlena and him last night because he didn’t want anything to happen to her But all he seemed to care about was rosie. “For some reason everything was back the same” says Jacob. At the end of Rose’s circus performance the celebrate that they have an amazing star attraction because of Jacob.
After the celebration Marlena tried to have a little surprise thing for August but he ruins it by coming in early. When August gets there Jacob tries to leave so August and marlena could be alone and August tells him to stay Then august makes Marlena and Jacob do an “Act” which is weird for Jacob because he has to touch Marlena infront of August. Marlena tells August that nothing going on with Jacob and her August tells her that “of course an innocent woman wouldn’t have to get on her knees but you can’t help it can you…” So then Marlena slaps him and August slaps her Jacob comes rushing in to Tackle August.
Everyone gets Jacob off of August and get him back into the room but then Marlena comes in telling Jacob that they are coming for him and he needs to get off of the train but he doesn’t want to unless she comes with. Both Marlena and Jacob jump off of the train and go into a hotel. Where they do things that can’t be explained. When they wake up Marlena tells Jacob that they cannot stay in the hotel they need to keep moving. People from the train come in and take Marlena from jacob and beat him up.
When Jacob wake up he goes and walks the train tracks and sees that the train is stopped and he hides looking at guys from the train throw things out. He gets onto the train and goes to his room and his roommate and caramel are nowhere to be found. Jacob then gets a knife and walked to Marlena and Augusts room and before he even did anything Marlena tells him no so he doesn’t kill August. In the morning Marlena wake up Jacob and tells him that they found camel and his roommate they hit the rocks and didn’t make it.
In the next show that they wre going to do people from the circus let out the animals to take on revenge from the death of camel and Jacobs roommate Jacob hears everything that’s going on so he runs to go kill August they get into a fight and Marlena grabs the hook and hits August with it two times Marlena tries to run away but August is Faster and he grabs puts her to the floor and chokes her Rosie grabs the hook that she was tied down with and hits August with it now August is dead. Like Jacob planned he went to take his finals and with his degree his animals and Marlena were safe.
Jacob and marlena had a child his name was walter and he spent the years of his life with the Ringling brothers. They had a total of Five kids. They grew up and moved then it was just Jacob and Marlena and rosie. When rosie dies marlena cried for . days. Then Marlena died and jacob say sshe was “still beautiful”. They had alo tof years and he dosent know how he did it and he managed to give her everything. The story Water for elephants is an amazing story told from the memories of Jacob as an old man. He was young when he ran away with the circus because of his parents death.
He went through many stages of the circus even took care of an elephant and many other animals and he even fought for a woman who was already married. They declared love for one another and took down August with all they could. They ended up having 5 children and they even had their circus which was the ringling brothers. Both jacob and Marlena grew old with each other till Marlena died Jacob says he did everything he could and gave everything for her. One day the circus came into town and his son forgot to go so he did but when old Jacob go there it was too late Cause they had already performed.
