I believe that you can find social classes in about any society that exists today. Be it the past, present and future, social classes have always existed and will never go away. Although every generation may experience times of political problems, economic hardship, the social divide will always be there. In the Novel, Water for Elephants, writer Sara Gruen tells the story of an old man telling his life story, which exemplifies how social classes were like during the Depression. Main Character Jacob Jankowski is the 90 or 93-year-old man, who retells his story about his life and experience working for the circus during this time of Depression. You would think Jacob; a Cornell University soon to be graduate would come from a wealthy family because he was attending a Ivy League school during the time of the depression. During his attendance there, his parents were killed in an accident therefore leaving nothing for him in the will as everything was reposed by the bank. Putting his parents to rest, and leaving a life he knew behind, he hit the road and finds himself to become a workingman in the Benzini Brother’s Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Here, he is at the bottom of the social class chain one could presume.
As he hitches a ride on a train, which he now finds to be a circus, Jankowski starts to learn about the social classes that are set within the circus itself. There are the performers, workingmen, Poles, and Jews. Something that had stood out to me during this novel was the first breakfast scene within the novel. The performers, or better yet known to the workingmen as “kinkers” had nice tables that were set with red and white checkered table cloths adorned with vases and flower and of course, silverware. Here, these nicely set tables were meant for the performers, which you could associate them as the upper class of their day. The “kinkers” would have these nice amenities available to them along with better traveling conditions and better clothes too. The “kinkers” would usually stick together and they would talk during breaks when the train would stop but they would never acknowledge the workingman, whom would be the ones who set up their tents, move the animals out or while the workers fed them. This sort of treatment can still be seen today amongst the social classes. While the rich is getting richer, and the poor getting poorer, someone of the upper class won’t stop and give the time and day to some random worker off the street or even acknowledge them really. This is America, when one becomes rich, they don’t seem to have a care in the world (except for themselves and their loved ones of course), and they become this snob that prides themselves on how successful they are. You can also make the impression that people are placed into social classes by what they own too. Someone of the upper class would be having dinner at the most lavish restaurants, having the house wine while wearing their Armani or Gucci suits. A person of the middle class or Lower class would never be able to afford a lavish meal at the most posh places nor would they be able to afford such an expensive suit such as Armani or Gucci. This example is just like Jankowski’s personal experience at the first breakfast scene, along with his observation during the many stops they made when traveling.
In another scene, I had noticed that when Jacob has made his way up the social ladder as the veterinarian, he was invited aboard the train of August and Marlena. After they have their soirée, it seems Marlena and Jacob had a deep conversation once August pasts out from the alcohol. Marlena had asked if Jacob was Polish. As Jacob verifies that he is, she mentions that the Polish don’t like Jews and that August was a Jew. Shortly after she talks about how she is Catholic and when her parents found out she was married to August, she was disowned. In Jacob’s drunken tone, he apologizes to hear Marlena was disowned but he said, “ I’m not surprised”. He quickly tries to clear his name as he realized what he said was somewhat of a racist remark. Not only was this an issue of social class but race and religion plays a roll. During the time of the depression, racism was an issue and there were conflicts of religion. Although this is not a topic seen throughout the book, it’s the principle that someone can be treated very differently not only by their social standing, but also because of their race, religion or even the way they look can effect how one is treated. An example we see in the book is how Walter is treated. Walter (AKA Kinko) is the dwarf clown whom is mistreated throughout the novel. August clearly talks down to Walter in the scene where Jacob needs a place to sleep. Walter assumes he is a workingman and does not want to room with Jacob because he is a performer. “This gentlemen is the shows new veterinarian-from Cornell no less-which puts him a good deal higher than you in my estimation” as August scolds Walter. This shows how Walter, the performer feels he is greater then Jacob because he assumed he was a workingman which meant he felt he was on top for once. Once clarified that he was the veterinarian whom attended Cornell, his status changed and was no longer below Walter in terms of the social ranking. We see this sort of deal a lot in today’s society. People are ranked and judged on what they do for a living, where they attend school, and even by how they look or the color of their skin. Since Walter is a dwarf, people must feel they have the power to walk over him and take advantage of him. Like today, if one is too nice or modest or just has stupid written all over them, and then they will be walked over and/or taken advantage of.
As we read throughout the book, we cannot forget that Jacob is merely telling his life story and that in actuality he is an old man living in a retirement home. He touches on how he has 5 children whom are all grown and old too. He fathoms the idea of why his kids would not take him in. Then he realizes that his kids have enough of their own problems and he does not want to get caught up in the mix of things. What we tend to forget is where do the old stand on this social ladder of things? Once we become old, we expect our kids to take care of us because we raised them and took care of them once too. However, not everyone is lucky when they become old because some are even forgotten about. I guess once you become old, you are set aside by your loved ones and you are no longer ranked in terms of social classes. You could still have the wealth or you could be one who’s poor, but once you get up there, you loose track of things and you have no care in the world.
Throughout this whole novel, one would have never expected to read about social hierarchies within a circus. However, it is sad to say that throughout time, social classes have always been around. Growing up in a society of rankings is no walk through the park. Only we can make baby steps and change things for the better. Its no easy task but we can rise above the issues we have seen throughout this novel. Just because someone is in the higher class, they can still acknowledge the people of the middle and lower class. Once our parents get old, we shouldn’t feel that it’s a burden to take care of them. What we tend to forget is rich or poor, Caucasian or Mexican, Polish or Jewish, Young or old, we are all people living and breathing the same air. We should treat each other with a sign of respect and appreciate life and what it has to offer.
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