The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants by Bassmah Bassam Khaled AlTaher, Jordan

IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants Bassmah Bassam Khaled AlTaher German-Jordanian University, Jordan Abstract Humanity has always wanted to find peace, order, and justice in a perfect world Yet, this longing manifested in literary works, has been touched by the dark side of reality, transforming Utopia into Dystopia; a world of conflict and chaos Sara Gruen (1969) captivates this undeniable reality in her novel Water for Elephants (2006) and shows that the so called ideal society can still have a tragic flaw This study intends to prove the existence of a Dystopian world in Sara Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants, and how it is shaped within a miniature society of a circus In the life of this circus, the elements of Dystopia come together to portray the degeneration of society during the Great Depression of (1929 – 1941) in the United States of America; creating a world everyone thought at the very beginning was Utopia Therefore, this study unravels the layers of perfection and shows the flaws of this so called perfect man-made world (the circus) by using the theoretical approach of the term Dystopia and applying it to the novel, one finds that the events that lead to the hero’s abandonment of everything because of the Great Depression in America, ends with the hero’s triumph over shackled circumstances in which he is played as a pawn This feature of ending oppression and fighting for his and his society’s freedom is a major quality of a Dystopian Hero; in contrast, a Utopian Protagonist stands aside, simply being objective in society as he studies the perfect laws and nature of such a perfect world Keywords: Utopia, Dystopia, Circus, Great Depression, Dystopian Hero International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 146 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Introduction The United States of America endured a decade of hardship and adversity during the Great Depression (1929 – 1941) Ten years of prosperity during the 1920s was celebrated by various financial leaders throughout the country, and a lot of those people believed that it was the dawn of a new age in which good profit and money were duplicated easily with flourishing businesses and successful deals Yet this era of hope did not last long; when the Wall Street stock market crashed in October 1929, it shocked many wealthy stockholders with its severe losses This caused a lot of suffering at all levels throughout the nation as the American citizens struggled to cope in perishable circumstances; many people were out of work, jobs were scarce, and so the “good times of the 1920s were replaced with the bread lines, soup kitchens, and the wandering homeless The administration of President Herbert Hoover took unprecedented actions to relieve the crises, but nothing seemed to work” (Ayers, 2009, p.624) As a result of this situation, the economic crises spread worldwide creating poverty, unemployment, deflation, and plunging farm incomes The depression as known, started in the United States of America with the fall of stock market prices, and soon after, it affected stock markets globally Thus, the American Dream of gaining wealth and power in a minimum amount of time became the American Nightmare for the residents of the United States of America The hungry nation drifted apart, and it was basically a survival for the fittest Many writers and idealists tried to create an ideal utopia in order to escape the bitter reality and find some peace once again Some even searched for it, claiming that they had the roadmap to heaven, for life forced men, women, and children to dream for a better place (Ayers, 2009, p.624) However, not all societies that are perceived as perfect are Utopia, but in fact, the subtle beginning of a Dystopia Simply because all attempts to perfect those worlds are made of power, manipulation, and injustice (Hermansson, 2011) A happy land without history where all the citizens are all mentally and morally in tune brings about the failure of Utopia, simply because man by nature is selfish and greedy A counter-point in literature known as Dystopia is thus created, because every man strives for individuality and unique power of his own; this element could be a International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 147 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah major role in transforming what was known as Utopia, into Dystopia Briefly, Utopia is defined as a certain society that holds idealistic values in all parts of the way of living; such is legislation, housing, education, and economy As for Dystopia, it is similar to the Utopian world, but differs in the aspect of government and hierarchy as classicism and inequality leads always to its failure (Wells, 2011) With this Dystopian notion, Sara Gruen (1969) takes advantage of this dystopia and manifests it ideology in a microcosmic world of her own known as the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth The word Dystopia was first used by John Stuart Mill in 1868, an English Philosopher, political economist, and liberal thinker, when Mill denounced the government’s Irish land policy Mill strongly objected on a parliamentary dispute about Ireland in which the conservative government’s proposal to build a Protestant Church, and keep the Catholic one in order to please all sides Thus, Mill (1868) makes his famous statement about this matter: I may be permitted, as one who, in common with many of my betters, have been subjected to the charge of being Utopian, to congratulate the Government on having joined that goodly company It is perhaps, too complimentary to call them Utopians, they ought rather to be called dys-topians, or cacotopians What is commonly called Utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favor is too bad to be practicable (p.1517) From this meaning, one can allude to how it functions as an ideology applied to a certain community A community that coexists with mankind in utter perfection is basically a dream world, what Mill alludes here is that with the existence of a Catholic Church and a Protestant one, the civil war will never cease Harmony will coexist with the two faiths as proven already in history of the endless battles in England between the Protestants and the Catholics to make a dominant religion in the country Catholicism ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland for thousands of years, and was basically the main religion throughout Europe “In the 1500s, Catholics began to question the power of the pope, who led the Roman Catholic Church” (Banting, 2002, International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 148 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah p.8) The question lies whether Ireland is any different? “Between 1534 and 1537, King Henry VIII tried to force Roman Catholics in Ireland to give up their religion and follow Protestantism” (Banting, 2002, p.8) One may allude that life does not function the way people want it to be, for power corrupt, classicism, and mankind’s selfishness would bring about the downfall of an attempt to perfect society The Canadian-American writer, Sara Gruen (1969), manifests Dystopia in various aspects of her novel Water for Elephants (2006) The story revolves around the protagonist, Jacob Jankowski, whose penniless and homeless situation led him to join the circus as a veterinarian His boss, known as August, is violent and everyone fears him with great caution, even his young, beautiful wife Marlena is frightened of his madness at times Jacob soon finds himself attracted, and then falls in love with Marlena However, when unraveling the novel, many parts reflect the elements that create a Dystopian world, especially in its settings, characters, and main events The characters and events of the novel go beyond the mere reader’s perspective of a typical love story developing in a magical place of the circus into a visual drama of lively characters and impulsive behavior In order to prove that a Dystopia truly exists in the world of the novel, the original atmosphere and how the characters react to such an extraordinary place is analyzed through theoretical basis in detail in this paper Review of the Related Literature This study is completely original What has been dealt with, whether in the form of books, articles, and the like, is the continuous analysis and explanation of the growing concept of Dystopia in literature In dealing with Dystopia, most critics attempt to define the term and give its historical origin, while explaining its functionality Michael D Gorden, Helen Tilley, and Gyan Prakash (2010) state that Dystopia, utopia’s twentieth-century doppelganger, also has difficulty escaping its literary fetters Much like Utopia, dystopia has found fruitful ground to blossom in the copious expanses of science fiction, but it has also flourished in political fiction (and especially in antiSoviet fiction), as demonstrated by the ease with which the term is applied to George Orwell’s 1984, Evgenii Zamiatin’s We, and Aldus Huxley’s Brave New International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 149 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah World…Dystopia…is a utopia gone wrong, or a utopia that functions only for a particular segment of society (p.1) This definition simply defines the term Dystopia and does not tackle its various forms A Dystopian world can not only be seen in science fiction or political fiction, it can also be seen in a simple community that strives for perfection This small society can be a normal family or a nation, as long as there is a group of people who need to escape their reality and search for a better place, this new society that they have joined is their new home in the shape of Dystopia Other critics perceive Dystopia as critical Dystopia Alexander Hall (2009) explains that: non-existent society described in considerable detail and normally located in time and space that the author intended a contemporaneous reader to view as worse than contemporary society…the critical dystopia, according to Moylan, carries out an intertextual intervention that denies the negation of the critical utopian moment (p.2) A twenty-first century reader can only imagine a contemporary Dystopia that exists in the far future, yet that is not always true A twenty-first century reader can look back in time with non use of science fiction and simply look at a simple historical fiction and discover a Dystopian world embedded within Its form may not seem so obvious at first, but its function and shape is actually a mold of Dystopia in its subtlest way However, when looking at the novel on its own, many critics wrote positive reviews on the novel in common perspectives The New York Times’ journalist, Elizabeth Judd (2011) noted that Water for Elephants’ Circuses showcase human beings at their silliest and most sublime, and many unlikely literary figures have been drawn pretensions to their and glitzy pageantry, metaphorical soaring potential… Unsurprisingly, writers seem liberated by imagining a spectacle where no comparison ever seems inflated, no development impossible For better and for worse, International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 150 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Gruen has fallen under the spell With a showman's expert timing, she saves a terrific revelation for the final pages, transforming a glimpse of Americana into an enchanting escapist fairy tale (p.1) Water for Elephants is not only an escapist novel in which characters escape their unpleasant life into a better one, but also a novel that fits into the Dystopian genre; a genre in the sense that the atmosphere, characters, and plot make up Dystopia What can be seen by these vivid characters and lively animals in the circus is the fictitious development of a society longing to be perfect through illusion and misconception Hence, a Dystopian society comes to life In this study, this miniature society is dealt with through analysis of the Dystopian Hero, Jacob Jankowski, and through the conflict between social classes of the novel; the performers and the workers The novel’s ending proves even further this hypothesis of relating the circus to Dystopia, for every imperfect and unbalanced society lays its downfall The outbreak of the revolution at the end of the story, and how it brought about the downfall of the circus proves the very existence of Dystopia The Great Depression (1929 – 1941) caused a lot of suffering throughout America in the aftermath of the Crash of the stock market in 1929 Even though the American administration tried to relieve the crises, there was widespread agony across the land, turning the American dream into an American nightmare As a consequence of this, many writers wrote about it as a fall from Utopia Thus, fiction witnessed the advent of a new genre known as Dystopia The idea of Utopia first became known in English Literature through Sir Thomas More’s Utopia (1516), a fictional novel that deals with political issues, where he is able to draw a perfect world with an ideal community The name Utopia “is a compound Greek word meaning literally ‘no place’ or ‘nowhere,’” (More, 1999, p.15) yet, the English homophone euotpia derived from the Greek words εὖ and τόπος that mean ‘good place’, can imply a whole different meaning to a godforsaken place A person who first hears of utopia will get the impression that it is an unattainable state because it is no where to be found, but when that person understands the English meaning of it which means a good place, then that person would assume it is possible in existence With this ambiguous terminology, More adapts many literary and International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 151 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah philosophical ideas from various sources to create perfection on an island in the Atlantic ocean The political hierarchy of More’s novel is then based on recognized merit and effort; the people of Utopia, the Syphogrants and Tranibores are “elected annually, and the princes, or ‘first leaders,’ chosen from among those who are thought ‘most meet and expedient,’ serve for life unless ‘put down for suspicion of tyranny’” (More, 1999, p.5) Debate on public affairs, like the issue of crime and punishment, prevails among the Utopians in order to conduct their public issues by using democratic forms The protagonist, Raphael, tries to learn Utopia’s laws, behavior, and manners in the story, an outsider visiting Utopia This hero sits quietly, listening and observing the Utopian life and dares not alter anything because of its perfection Hence, there is no ownership of a certain land or property, doors are unlocked, and everyone works in taking care of the land planting crops Equality dominates the island of 54 cities This is relevant in terms of identifying Utopia’s counterpart, Dystopia, and so it would become easier to distinguish between the both when the Dystopian circus is introduced However, the idea of Utopia seemed too perfect to be true Power or the need of power can always corrupt a man; moreover, as a human being, man is limited in various ways in which help should be provided, and of course when one lacks practicality, then a ruler would face higher risks by losing moral judgment Man can try to idealize his world, but in the end, it would fall apart The old Utopias ignored that “reproductive competition among individualities which is the substance of life, and dealt essentially with its incidentals” (Wells, 1908, p.82) A happy land without history where all the citizens are all mentally and morally in tune, yet this so called harmony never seems to last, and inevitably bring about the failure of Utopia This created a counter-point in literature known as Dystopia As human beings, every man strives for individuality and unique power; this generates greed and selfishness, and as a result Utopia is transformed into Dystopia The word Dystopia is originally a Greek word meaning ‘bad or ill;’ (Gottlieb, 2001, p.5) from this meaning, one can allude to how it functions as an ideology applied to a certain community Dystopia is usually associated with science fiction; a future of advanced technology brings about the fall of man kind For example, the famous Hollywood movie In Time is set in the far future where time is of the essence; people International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 152 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah have timers on their arms to count how much time they have left; once it hits zero, the person dies suddenly However, in order to comprehend the actual sense of this ideology, various aspects should be explained First of all, “for a thematically more neutral definition of this ‘bad place,’…dystopia [is looked] as a social structure that is worse than the present social system” (Gottlieb, 2001, p.5) Dystopia’s rules force oppression over a society Moreover, it portrays a repressive society that fears change, technology, or the unexplainable This society always tends to fear its great fall, hence individuality is a given right to the ones in power, like the government, and alienation is bound to its people According to Niclass Hermansson (2011), the irony of its pretentious democratic ways is found in the character of an accomplished and a competent person who is suppressed or stigmatized, considering him to be above others; intellectuals, scholars, and scientists are thus considered to be a threat In addition, the dystopian world finds itself isolated from nature; the people are alienated from all that is green, making a person confide to darkness and indoor life in most of his or her life However, some Dystopian societies are founded in the natural world The main focus is going to be on the Dystopian Hero and how the atmosphere helped transform the weak, scared child, into a strong fighter Generally, the background of the story that depicts a Dystopian world takes place after a crisis; for example, war, famine, or revolution in order to create a new government delegated by the charismatic people of the remaining society Usually the people in power are shallow and follow their own pleasures “Some are even brutal and cruel Unlike utopia where the rulers are just and caring for the well-being and comfort of their citizens, the Dystopian rulers are oppressors and dictators, using flawed laws that cause corruption in the society” (Hermansson, 2011, p.1) Because of this corruption, there is black marketing and bad goods are sold This often creates a revolt from a group of oppressed people that spreads through the whole community and brings down the corrupted government Mainly, the revolt begins with the protagonist, a Dystopian character who has lived the unjust cruelty for years, and can no longer stand the injustice inflicted upon lower class people “Conflict is basically the main issue in bringing about the first steps of change [towards a positive change]; the protagonist usually trusts a group of people whom withhold powerful positions in the government, but later on back stabs the hero in the end” (Hermansson, 2011, p.1) International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 153 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Thus, Dystopian literature attains a climax of revolution at all times, aspiring tragedy However, the ending always takes the Dystopian Hero’s favor and a new life is produced before the hero Whether this new life is good or bad one, it is something else than the life the hero had, usually, an indication at the end shows that the hero, who is finally freed from all authoritative constraints, is happy for being finally able to create decisions of one’s own Destroying Dystopia could either be possible or impossible, in some novels and short stories, and even science fiction, the Dystopian world is usually shaken up by the rise of the people and sometimes, they lose their case when opposing the powerful and corrupted rulers The escape of the protagonist is also a sign of triumph; in a sense this person is able to run away from an oppressive life and finally live a normal life with a rather balanced power and rights division As a result, Dystopia is but a mortal trial to establish an immortal state that rulers think is the best for their people, but the means in which they conduct their state is unjust and wrong, and so Dystopia must be destroyed at the end Research Methodology This study is analytical in the sense of analyzing events and characters to elaborate how the Dystopian world came to be In short character development analysis and plot analysis are used throughout the whole process Moreover, the study is theoretical by applying the attributes of Dystopia as a genre The historical background of the Great Depression is used in order to portray the becoming of Dystopia in the circus during the mid 1930s Sarah Gruen (1969) uses The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth as her refuge for her main hero, Jacob Jankawski, and whom the paper refers to as the Dystopian Hero Moreover, attributes of the genre, Dystopia, like the use of an actual historical calamity to push people to create a Dystopian society, the idea of having a tragic hero who revolts against a tyrant, are applied to the novel in order to show how the Benzini Brothers’ Circus is a miniature society of a corrupted hierarchy, disguised as a sanctuary for all those who are lost in the Depression By doing so, the study adds to the definition of Dystopia that it does not have to be set in the far future in the world of science fiction, but it can actually exist in a historical fiction, and take the same shape as it would in a world full of robots or aliens The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 154 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Water for Elephants is set in two realms, a nursing home in the present times, and a circus in the past In order to justify how Dystopia came to being, a real life crisis should be presented in the background In the case of Water for Elephants, the crisis is related to the Great Depression of the 1930s in the United States of America It is formally known that the Great Depression expanded throughout the world Among those countries was Poland, from which our main hero of the novel, Jacob Jankowski, comes from At the beginning of the novel, Jankowski is seen as an old man who is confused whether if he is ninety or ninety-three-years old, and would reminisce about the circus He remembers the 1930s in Ithaca, New York at Cornell University, where he is in his final semester studying to be a Veterinarian Gruen subtly projects the background information of her novel in the first chapter, hinting the origin of the Jankowski family Zbigniew Landau and Jerzy Tomaszewski state that the “Great Depression brought a sudden fall in marriage-and birth-rates, the result of common pauperisation and anxiety about setting up a family or having more children” (Landau, 1985, p.86) made various couples decide to bear only a child or two This reflected in the Jankowskies having an only child, Jacob The Great Depression in Poland also explains why so many Poles immigrated to America and to other countries before the Depression, and why the number of immigrants decreased after it Many even returned to Poland because they had lost their jobs or couldn’t find any “A characteristic feature of economic depression was that migratory movements diminished, especially those of people seeking work abroad…Between 1930 and 1935 emigration from Poland totalled [sic] 448,000 people, whereas in the previous six years more than 900,000 Poles had emigrated.” (Landau, 1985, p.86) Gruen uses this information and chooses to place the Jankowskies’ veterinarian business in Ithaca to bankruptcy, and in order for Jacob’s father to pay off Jacob’s tuition fees at Cornell University, he had to mortgage the house The Depression caused more misery for the Jankowskies, as it forced many people to pay for veterinarian services with other things than cash This is all revealed to Jankowski, a young man in his twenties, when he is summoned to the offices of Edmund Hyde, Esquire: Apparently my father has been taking payment in the form of beans and eggs for nearly two years… International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 155 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah ‘Beans and eggs?’ My voice cracks in disbelief ‘Beans and eggs?’ ‘And chickens And other goods.’ ‘I don’t understand.’ ‘…The community’s been hit right hard, and your father was trying to help out Couldn’t stand by and watch animals suffer’ (Gruen, 2011, p.25) In this dialogue we discover how the situation was so difficult for Jacob’s father to obtain money, and as a man of morals, he offered his services in exchange for things rather than money Gruen delves further in showing how the Depression spread throughout Jankowski’s colleagues at university: I even remember the ones who had to drop out after the Crash: Henry Winchester, whose father stepped off the ledge of the Board of Trade Building in Chicago Alistair Barnes, whose father shot himself in the head Reginald Monty, who tried unsuccessfully to live in a car when his family could no longer pay for his room and board Bucky Hayes, whose unemployed father simply wandered off (Gruen, 2011, p.29) People had lost literally everything; their home, their property, and even their family This brought about the sense of loss in people and a need to belong somewhere that is safe and sustainable With the likes of so many lost people during the Depression, the creation of a Dystopia is inevitable Many people searched for a new hope, Jankowski searched for a reason to live after the death of his parents and the loss of everything he ever owned He has no one to turn too, and with only a few surviving relatives in Poland, he finds himself wandering aimlessly on train tracks He loses all sense of purpose and leaps into the nearest train Thus, Jankowski finds himself on board a train of the “Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth” A circus train, with a whole new way of life beating inside of it as one isolated community, it heads towards various cities and towns in order to make a decent living In this environment, Dystopia is created, as it promises many others like Jankowski for a warm meal and a place to stay Shelter offered in a magical world creates a feeling of hope within its International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 156 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah members, despite the fact that it is a miniature of the actual reality; it is able to proceed with promises and dreams for its residents, creating a false Utopia There are several elements in the life of the circus that make up the Dystopian world; therefore, each aspect of the circus is analyzed, such as classicism, government, and the workers In the journey of the main hero, who will be later on identified as the Dystopian Hero, Jankowski is soon able to find some work by helping out in various tasks around the circus, and he is pleased to something for the menagerie At first when he watches the first show, he is dazzled by it: The big top still stands, glowing like a ghostly coliseum and pulsing with the sound of the band I stare at it, entranced by the sound of the audience’s reactions They laugh, clap, and whistle Sometimes there’s a collective intake of breath or patter of nervous shrieks (Gruen, 2011, p.62) Jankawski is greatly attracted by this world because it offered him a home again It is also a place of wonder and illusion, which made him forget the troubles he was going through He later learns of the hidden segregation and corruption behind the smiles of the performers and workers He finds out that the people who work at the circus are divided into two classes: The working class, the workers, and the ruling class, the performers Obviously, the working class has lesser privileges, perks, and even space to bunk in the train The segregation can be seen even when they all gather for their meals at the cookhouse: The sidewalls of the cookhouse have been raised to allow for a draft, but it divided down the center by a curtain The tables on the side are graced with red and white checked tablecloths, silverware, and vases of flowers This seems wildly out of sync with the line of filthy men snaking behind the steam tables…The tables in the other half are set end to end, their bare wood graced only with salt and pepper shakers No flowers here (Gruen, 2011, p.43-44) International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 157 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah At the beginning, Jankowski is treated as a plain worker A kind old man named Camel, allows him to stay on the train and finds him some work This creates an opportunity for him to meet with Uncle Al Uncle Al and August Rosenbluth are two powerful ringleaders After hearing that he was studying at Cornell University as a Veterinarian, they appoint him as the circus’ veterinarian: ‘So you missed the exams Big deal.’ ‘It is a big deal.’ ‘No it isn’t It’s just a piece of paper, and nobody here gives a damn about that You’re on a show now The rules are different.’ (Gruen, 2011, p.130) In this dialogue, August Rosenbluth (one of the ringleaders) and Jankawski are discussing the importance of education Rosenbluth believes that in the life of the circus, a degree does not matter at all, what matters most is a man’s contribution to his work This brings about the sense of security for Jankowski, and so he simply does what he is ordered to do, and mingles with the rest of the workers and some of the performers At first he shares quarters with Camel in a cold corner of the train, next to piles of hey Later on, when Rosenbluth takes interest in him, he upgrades his sleeping quarters and bunks him with a well-known performer, a dwarf called Walter, known as Kinko in the realm of the circus Gruen portrays segregation of each class by projecting the little matters like places to sit in the Cook House, or where to sleep in certain quarters The performers are treated with delicate care and attention, whereas the workers are treated with indifference and demeaning ways: Performers emerge from sleepers closer to the back of the train and of obviously better quality There’s a clear hierarchy: the closer to the back, the more impressive the quarters Uncle Al himself climbs from a car right in front of the caboose I can’t help but notice that Kinko and I are the human occupants closest to the engine (Gruen, 2011, p.90) This shows the performers’ advantage over the workers: The odor of unwashed bodies and clothes is overwhelming The bunks, stacked three high, hold at International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 158 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah least one and sometimes two men, as the spaces beneath them The fellow wedged in the floor space across me punches a thin grey blanket, trying in vain to form a pillow (Gruen, 2011, p.68) In retrospect, this reveals the critical point of Dystopia; segregation Moreover, the workers come together and speak in a vernacular language which distinguishes them from the sophisticated performers; codes are used to refer to the upper class are used in order to protect themselves Jankowski, tries to mingle with the working class, and finds it important to learn their vernacular to be accepted as one of them Mocked and scorned, Camel is the only person who helps and teaches Jankowski their vernacular Among the words he teaches are ‘kinkers’, which is code for performers, the ‘First of May’, which means welcome the new worker, and ‘Hey Rube’, which means a fight between the performers and the workers Yet, Jankowski can not truly mingle with the workers because of his personal social status as being part of the educated rank, he is then taken under Rosenbluth’s wing and assigned to take care of a horse named Silver Star, the show’s leading act Silver Star is deeply infected between the hoof and the coffin bone, forcing Jankowski to put him down This incident brings him closer to Marlena L’Arche, Rosenbluth’s wife He finds himself attracted to her simplicity and kind hearted soul towards people and animals, despite her high status as the number one performer Consequently, a Dystopian Hero emerges; Jankowski is seen to fit the profile of being one A modern Dystopian Hero is more likely to be also known as a Vonnegut hero; a term referring to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr (1922 – 2007), a Twentieth century American Writer, who wrote several dystopian novels Major themes in his novels are related to alienation and class segregation Thus, Jankawski is a hero who actually sees the injustices of the ruling class and wills for a change or destruction of the system Robinson Wells, the author of the upcoming YA Dystopian novel Varient, defines the Dystopian Hero as “the lens through which we see that setting Whether the protagonist initially understands the societal problems…or doesn’t…the readers still learn through the main character.” (Wells, 2011, p.1) As Jankowski delves further into this wonderland, he starts to see reality; workers working as slaves under harsh circumstances, animals are forced into tight and small compartments, and performers act out their allegiance to the ringleader, but are true International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 159 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah hypocrites in every sense of the word This contradicts the illusion of bedazzlement and fair treatment to all; Rosenbluth clarifies this point in his conversation with Jankowski: No It’s nowhere near It’s probably not even the fiftieth most spectacular show on earth We hold maybe a third of the capacity Ringling does You already know that Marlena’s not Romania royalty And Lucinda? Nowehere near eight hundred and eighty-five pounds Four hundred, tops And you really think Frank Otto got tattooed by angry headhunters in Borneo? Hell no He used to be a stake driver on the Flying Squadron He worked on that ink for nine years And you want to know what Uncle Al did when the hippo died? He swapped out her water for formaldehyde and kept on showing her For two weeks we traveled with a pickled hippo The whole thing’s illusion, Jacob, and there’s nothing wrong with that It’s what people want from us It’s what they expect (Gruen, 2011, p.131) The Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth is a Dystopia of illusion It also creates isolation for the workers, making them feel that they have to work twice as hard in order to get a decent pay Uncle Al would even feed them less just like the animals to achieve his goals: ‘Where to?’ I ask ‘Into town, for breakfast,’ he says ‘Doubt there’s any food here Probably won’t be until tomorrow.’ ‘Jesus – really?’ ‘Well, we’ll try, but we hardly gave the advance man time to get here, did we?’ ‘What about them? ‘Who?’ I point at the defunct circus International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 160 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah ‘Them? When they get hungry enough they’ll mope off Best thing for everyone, really.’ ‘And our guys?’ ‘Oh, them They’ll survive until something shows up Don’t you worry Al won’t let them die.’ (Gruen, 2011, p.145 - 146) The irony in Rosenbluth’s behavior in being close to Jankowski, and acting as a friend rather than a foe turns into a warning sign for Jankowski The more Jankowski learns about the true character of Rosenbluth, the more he discovers the demented ways Rosenbluth is capable of doing in order to enforce power Jankowski is trying to comprehend everything that is going on around him, and studies Rosenbluth’s character carefully, especially after Rosenbluth tries to kill him for giving orders in his place Rosenbluth forces Jankowski to feed a lion called Rex, and ends up biting Jankowski’s arm instead Jankowski was lucky enough that Rex has no teeth, and only gave him surface wounds Moreover, Jankowski notices the way Rosenbluth treats his wife Marlena At times he would treat her in refined gentleman-like manners, at other times he would turn aggressive and lose control Upon seeing this, Jankowski could actually understand Marlena’s unhappiness with her husband, and feels the obligation to protect her He, on the one hand, realizes the circumstances he is in, but still has no strength to leave or change it, thinking that the world beyond the circus has been swallowed whole by the Depression There will no longer be a home waiting for him, nor a veterinarian practice to go back to This brings about the feeling of being trapped “The protagonist is learning more about the problems of their situation…both physically and socially Their physical isolation comes in the form of constant surveillance and inability to speak freely or act freely” (Wells, 2011, p.1) This is why Jankowski finds it hard to project his own thoughts when Rosenbluth’s eyes are sharply set on him and Marlena Dystopian protagonists are often ideological than practical, and are willing to take huge risks to the right thing for him or his people Wells states that all Dystopian characters are basically rebels “when they decide to take an action, whether it is to attempt a revolution, or disseminate information or simply escape, they understand that the consequences are very dire” (Wells, 2011, p.1) The image of a rebellious International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 161 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Jankowski appears when he faces a life-threatening choice; to runaway with Marlena and the circus Apparently, Rosenbluth’s fear of losing Marlena to another man makes him an obsessed, and is constantly jealous of Jankowski Through violent behavior, he then brings out his rage by accusing Marlena and Jankowski falsely of having an affair This act brings out his paranoid schizophrenic side and ends up fighting and hitting them both on false grounds The realization of direct harm comes as Dystopia’s climax: The first time it happened we’d only been married three weeks, and it scared me to death He beat one of the menagerie workers so badly he lost an eye I saw him it I called my parents and asked if I could come home, but they wouldn’t even speak to me It was bad enough that I’d married a Jew, but now I wanted a divorce as well? My father made mother tell me that in his eyes I had died the day I eloped…Three weeks later, another menagerie man lost his arm while helping August feed the cats He died of blood loss before anyone could find out the details Later in the season I found out that the only reason August had a string of liberty horses to give me was that the previous trainer – another woman – jumped from the moving train after joining August for an evening in his stateroom There have been other incidents, too, although this is the first time he’s turned on me (Gruen, 2011, 338 – 339) Marlena explains her fear of Resenbluth to Jankowski in tears and sorrow She realizes that Rosenbluth is not the man she thought he was, and has been trying to escape her marriage ever since With this revelation, they both plan their escape, but they are deeply involved and know too much about the ringleader’s corrupted ways, especially Rosenbluth’s This triggers certain chain reactions that happen immediately right after their knowledge of the truth Dystopia soon tumbles towards its downfall The following events twists into chaos; Jankowski could not leave Camel alone after being paralyzed from drinking too much; he has to ensure that Camel reaches the International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 162 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah town Providence safely to deliver him to his son Marlena falls in love with Jankowski during these rigid times, and decides to run away with him and start a new life away from the circus Walter helps Jankowski, Camel, and Marlena to run away once they hit Providence Rosenbluth is lost without Marlena, who no longer sleeps with him in the same car, and moves up to the Virgin Car with the other women Uncle Al is furious by the show not being able to go on without Marlena or Rosenbluth performing their best act At first, Jankowski tries to soften Uncle Al by making him think that Marlena is just angry with Rosenbluth and will go back to him, and all she needs is a bit of time to come around This is, however, part of the plan to stall time and reach Providence with Marlena out of harm’s way Jankowski’s huge risk is to free her from the clutches of Uncle Al and his men, as well as Rosenbluth’s, and ensure Camel’s safety Furthermore, find a new place to settle down with Marlena in world swallowed by the great Depression What brings about the downfall of Dystopia is when Rosenbluth sends out his men to kill Jankowski and get rid of Walter and Camel by ‘red-lighting’ (circus term for throwing people off a moving train) them Jankowski is able to get away, but Walter and Camel could not: ‘They got tossed over the trestle, all of them Camel’s head hit the rocks He died right away Walter’s legs were smashed up bad They had to leave him.’ He swallows and adds, ‘They don’t reckon he lasted the night’ (Gruen, 2011, p.383) The injustice could not be tolerated anymore by the working class, especially when many of their friends were tossed out of the train alive like ragged dolls Because of Jankowski’s strength to stand against Rosenbluth, and protect Marlena, he actually sent a subliminal message to his fellow mates that injustice must pay its toll Hence, a revolt began between the workers who were thrown out They opened the cages of the menagerie during one of its performances and ruined the whole show Jankowski on the other hand was consumed with the fact of rescuing Marlena from the stampede and more likely from Rosenbluth It turns out that Rosie, the elephant, has a vendeta of her own on Rosenbluth Rosenbluth hit her real hard with a hook without mercy, and now amidst the stampede of running people and loose animals, Rosie did the unthinkable: International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 163 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Rosie stretches out her trunk, reaching for something…Rosie has pulled her stake from the ground She holds it loosely, resting its end on the hard dirt The chain is still attached to her foot She looks at me with bemused eyes Then her gaze shifts to the back of August’s bare head…She lifts the stake as though it weighs nothing and splits his head in a single clean movement – ponk – like a cracking hardboiled egg She continues to hold the stake until he topples forward, and then she slides it almost lazily back into the earth (Gruen, 2011, p.386-387) Rosenbluth lies dead on the floor, and the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth comes to its end Although Rosie has taken matters into her own hands, she would never have done it without the love and affection from Jankowski and Marlena throughout the training sessions and constant performances Jankowski’s care and good treatment towards Rosie made it impossible for the elephant to live any longer with Rosenbluth’s cruelty In the end, Dystopia seizes to exist, the illusion is broken, and reality is back to its true form Jankowski, a hero of all means, has tested his moral compass and self worth, and discovers the bond he feels with the animals along with Marlena His ideas and compassion stirred the wounds of the ones who faced injustice and managed to stand up for themselves Jankowski may have started out fighting for his true love, but ended up lighting the path for others to find their way to freedom, justice, and reality By this, Dystopia in the circus is foreover ruined, and it takes a Dystopian Hero to accomplish such a task Conclusion Water for Elephants has truly captured the Dystopian world by creating a circus, and bringing into light imperfections of human nature to prove that Utopia is just a segment of one’s imagination With the will of a Dystopian Hero, the flaws of Dystopia come to light, and the readers are invoked to think upon what might have happened if Jankowski did not rebel against the social norm, and just simply accepted matters as they were; injustice, cruelty, and a dysfunctional society would truly International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 164 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah prevail without a doubt Therefore, it is vital to have a Dystopian Hero found in every Dystopia to bring about this world’s downfall About the Author: Bassmah Bassam Khaled AlTaher is a Ph.D student in English Literature at the Department of English, School of Languages, the University of Jordan She currently works as a lecturer in English with the German-Jordanian University in Amman, Jordan Literature is her main focus in the academic field; therefore, scholarly research and education is an aim she seeks to gain through teaching and research The modern novel and cinematography are her main interests in the areas of research as these genres contribute to the fields of identity, transculturation, neo-racism, feminism, and the struggle between classes References: Ayers, Edward L et al (2009) American Passages: A History of the United States 4th Ed New York: Wadsworth Banting, Erinn (2002) Ireland: The People Oxford: Crabtree Barnstein, Michael A (1987) The Great Depression: Delayed Recovery and Economic Change in America, 1929-1939 Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1987 Farrell, Susan (2008) Critical Companion to Kurt Vonnegut: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work New York: Facts on File Gordon, Michael D., Helen Telly, and Gyan Prakash (2010) Utopia/Dystopia: Conditions of Historical Possibility New Jersey: Princeton UP Gottlieb, Erika (2001) Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial Ottawa: McGill-Queen’s UP Gruen, Sara (2011) Water for Elephants London: Two Roads Gruen, Sara “Sara’s Bio” saragruen.com Retrieved November 10, 2011 from http://saragruen.com/bio/ Hall, Alexander (2009) Dyscontent: The Critical Dystopia in 21st Century American Culture New York: UMI Hermansson, Niclass “Exploring Dystopia”, A Forum about Dark Science Fiction, Retrieved November 11, 2011 from http://hem.passagen.se/replikant/ Judd, Elizabeth (2011) “Trunk Show,” The New York Times Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/books/review/04judd.html Landau, Zbigniew, and Jerzy Tomaszewski (1985) The Polish Economy in the Twentieth Century Sydney: Croom Helm More, Thomas (1999) Utopia Ed David Harris Sacks Boston, MA: Bedford/St.Martin’s International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 165 IJ-ELTS: International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Schmeling, Gareth L The Novel in the Ancient World Leiden: E.J Brill, 1996 Wells, H.G (1908) A Modern Utopia London: Odhams Wells, Robison “Elements of the Dystopian Hero” Robison Wells Retrieved November 18, 2011 from http://www.robisonwells.com/2011/05/dystopia-blogseries-day-four-elements-of-the-dystopian-hero/ International Refereed & Indexed Journal of English Language & Translation Studies ISSN: 2308-5460 July-September, 2013 www.eltsjournal.org 166 ... The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah At the beginning, Jankowski is treated as a plain worker A kind old man named Camel, allows him to stay on the train and finds... The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Thus, Dystopian literature attains a climax of revolution at all times, aspiring tragedy However, the ending always takes the. .. Journal of English Language & Translation Studies Vol: 1, Issue: The Importance of a Dystopian Hero in Sara Gruen’s AlTaher, Bassmah Water for Elephants is set in two realms, a nursing home in the