Essay/Term paper: Elephant man

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Elephant Man



In literature, as in life, we encounter persons who have faults

as well as virtues. In the novel The Elephant Man by Christine Sparks a

man has faults. The character that has faults in this novel is Bytes who

is a greedy man and a circus owner.

Often people have a fault of virtue of another person. Bytes made

Merrick, the Elephant Man, live in the basement. Merrick lived in Bytes"

basement for more than two decades. The basement was cold and all

Merrick had an old dirty brown blanket to keep warm. Bytes whipped the

wall so that Merrick would obey.

When people have a bad character they often show it by what they

say. When Bytes put Merrick in the freak show he was trying to get

money. That proves he is greedy. He was getting people"s attention by

saying "" A wicked birth...monstrous...evil..."" (Sparks 1). Bytes was cruel

to Merrick. In the circus Merrick received his named the Elephant Man.

People who have fault take it out on other people less fortunate

then they are to make themselves feel superior. Bytes did exactly this to

Merrick. He treated the Elephant Man inhumanly. He showed this by

giving Merrick a dirty blanket, potatoes and water for food supply.

Merrick was beaten by Bytes.

Bytes had a lot of faults in this novel. He put the Elephant Man in

a cold basement for more than two decades with barely any warmth and

food supply. Bytes also put Merrick in the freak show to make more

money. Merrick was treated inhumanly. The author"s tone is that she

condemns mistreatment to any human being. The purpose is to

entertain or to inform. The intended effect is a feeling of sadness to

people who are treated poorly. The basic theme or assertion of this

book is don"t judge a book by it"s cover.