WaterforElephants教程.pptVIP

Water for Elephants By Sara Gruen Most widely held works by Sara Gruen Background: the great depression in the circus called the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth（班齐尼兄弟天下第一大马戏团 ） Main characters Jacob : The novel’s leading role. He is a “ninety or ninety-three”-year-old nursing home resident recalling the time he spent as a circus vet during the Great Depression. He loves Marlena. Marlena – A star performer in the circus. Marlena joined the circus after she ran away from home, and later marries August, the ring master. She enjoys a special rapport (融洽) with the horses and cares for them deeply. August – Marlena’s husband and the head animal trainer. As a classic batterer(虐妻者 ), he is alternately charming and brutal(残忍的 ), both to the humans and animals aboard the Benzini Brothers train. Later in the book, it is suggested that he is a paranoid schizophrenic(偏执精神分裂症 ) to excuse his violence. plot The story is told as a series of memories by Jacob, a ninety-three year-old man who lives in a nursing home. Jacob is a twenty-three-year old Polish American preparing for his final exams as a Cornell University vet student. He receives the horrible news: his parents were killed in a car accident. He leaves school and jumps into a train belonging to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. He is hired to care for the animals. He shares quarters with a dwarf named Walter and his dog Queenie. The head trainer, August, is a brutal man who abuses the animals and the people around him. But sometimes, he can be extremely charming. Jacob develops a guarded relationship with August and his wife, Marlena, with whom Jacob falls in love. August is suspicious of their relationship and beats Marlena and Jacob. As the story climaxes, several circus workers who were red-lighted (thrown) off of the train come