Thomas 1 Deonna Thomas Stacey Mitchell ENG 102 24 April 2024 Age Restriction A prevalent theme throughout the novel Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is the struggles that come with old age. The novel is told through two perspectives, old and young Jacob. Although he is healthy enough to do some things on his own, “Old Jacob” feels as if his life is no life at all. As the story develops, the realization, loneliness, and incapacitation that old age brings makes it a much heavier struggle than youth. As posed in the first chapter, age eventually becomes an afterthought as people eventually lose track of it. Until realization kicks in, but by the time a person realizes it, it is already too late. As a child, youth cultivates dreams, making adulthood seem filled with…show more content… His aspiration in life was to graduate from Cornell in veterinary sciences and eventually join his father’s practice (Gruen). Age brings new experiences, but when a person gets into their mid-thirties, they begin to forget. Eventually, they realize that they are forgetting their age, which will lead them to think “. . . you wonder if this is the beginning of the end? It is, of course, but it’s decades before you admit it” (Gruen 1). It is common practice for people to fight old age, believing that certain things will “keep them”.
Thomas 2 young” but when they begin finding youth it has already slipped away, and as they slip away, loneliness sinks in. Human interaction is essential to a healthy life, but as old age creeps in, the loneliness sets in as well. During his time at the home, Jacob lives with other residents, but they have little connection to each other. For Jacob, part of his lack of companionship comes from his anger. He is a pretty angry man so his demeanor is very off putting to the other residents, but this is because he feels out of place. Mr. Jankowski feels like he has given up on life by living in a home, even though he is capable of completely regular tasks on his own. The
