THE ELEPHANT MAN

by Sir Frederik Treeves

SETTING

The story, narrated by Treeves, takes place in London during the last decades of the 19th century.

CHARACTERS

Sir Treeves is a doctor and a surgeon at The London Hospital, and he's the first character we meet in the story.

Simon Silcock is a secondary character who is introduced right after Treeves in the first chapter. He's the "owner" of "The Elephant Man"

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Joseph Merrick, aka "The Elephant Man", is the second main character we find in the book.
He's man affected by a extremely rare disease, which made his body deformed.

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Mr Carr Gomm is the last character we are allowed to know the name.
His the Hospital Chairman and he plays an important role in Merrick's story.

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THE STORY

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Let’s talk about this poor man’s story now, the encounter between Dr. Treeves and Mr. Merrick happens at the very start of the book. In the first chapter, Joseph Merrick is described by Sir Treeves as a man with such a horrible, horrendous and deformed body of which only the left arm was spared.

Treeves takes him to the hospital and, after a thorough visit, lets Merrick go, but not after giving him a card with his information on.
After a couple of years, the police find “The Elephant Man” wandering around alleys and bring him to Treeves, who, with the aid of the Hospital Chairman, CarrGomn, and the Times editor, raises 50,000 £ and manages to provide him shelter: a hospital room.

Joseph Merrick starts living a new life enriched by real friends, constant care, experiences so he begins to feel like a regular person. A mentionable moment in the book is the period of time he spends alone at a friend’s farm, where he has the time of his life.

Unfortunately, his willing to feel not as a deformed outcast but as a normal person leads him to death: one night he decides to sleep on his back, which is not the way he’s supposed to sleep, because of the weight of his head, and, by doing so, he breaks his neck.

OUR THOUGHTS

Finally, we’d like to express our opinions an such interesting book. While we were reading it, we felt sadness and pity growing inside of us for this unlucky man who had been living hidden from the world.
Also, this story upset us even more after we found out it was true and made us realize how lucky we are for being normal.
It is well worth reading: it’s a fascinating book with a well-written plot which will force you to a non-stop reading experience.
It’s a fast-paced story so it focuses only on important events; by doing so it’ll never get boring.