Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is an amazing book, even though only the prologue was read. It is filled laced with amazing imagery, unique narrative voice and diction that blows my mind away. From only reading the first chapter, the story so far is an adventure because the main character, who we do not know the name of, is at a circus and the animals go on a stampede. So far, the theme of this story has not uncovered itself because only the prologue has been read and is being analyzed.
Water for Elephants, is filled with amazing imagery that really brings this excerpt to life. For example, Grady and I sat at a battered wooden table, each facing a burger on a dented tin plate. Just in this simple sentence, there is two or three examples of amazing imagery. The way that the wooden table was described as battered really helped me feel as if I was in the story sitting across from the narrator, because if only a word such as old, or cruddy was used, there is still a blank in my mind thinking, how the bench was cruddy or old. Secondly, when the author describes the burger on a dented tin plate, this really catches my attention, because this is such a minuscule detail, I mean, who the hell cares about what condition the plate is in, but this really helps it stay in my mind throughout the whole story
The diction used in this prologue is also very vivid and vast. Probably the best example would be, I jerked around to the fry cook, who was ripping off his apron. I think that this would best represent how well Gruen used her diction. When someone is in a hurry, they can obviously take something off quickly or they could slip it off, but Gruen chooses to take detail to a whole another level and show that he was terrified without having to say it. Because the fry cook ripped, his apron off it shows us as readers that he was scared and wanted to leave the area as soon as he could.
In conclusion, I think that Sara Gruen does as amazing job making delivering the prologue of Water for Elephants. Not only because she makes you seem as if you are right next to the narrator or you are even him. Also the diction of this story really fits the time frame and has a very positive effect on how the reader feels and thinks when he reads such a fast paced book. Overall I would like to continue to read this book to see if it continues to have such colorful writing and maybe even take it one step further and include figures of speech.
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