The Elephant-Short Story Summary

The Elephant – Slawomir Mrozek Genre- Contemporary realistic fiction At the Surface level, ‘The Elephant’ is a simple story about how a small polish zoo attempts to cut costs by fabricating an elephant, rather than adding real elephant to the Zoo’s collection. But at another level, ‘The Elephant’ is Satirical allegory. This is aimed at the communist government that controlled Poland at the time the story was written (1958). Language: Contemporary Technical device: Satirical allegory Satire: Literary works those critics/ridicules human follies, institutions, government by depicting it in a humorous, sarcastic, or scornful way. The purpose of satire is often to teach a lesson or encourage change. Or A literary mode based on criticism of people and society through ridicule. The satirist aims to reduce the practices attacked by laughing scornfully at them--and being witty enough to allow the reader to laugh, also. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and several other techniques are almost always present. The satirist may insert serious statements of value or desired behavior, but most often he relies on an implicit moral code, understood by his audience and paid lip service by them. The satirist's goal is to point out the hypocrisy of his target in the hope that either the target or the audience will return to a real following of the code. Thus, satire is inescapably moral even when no explicit values are promoted in the work, for the satirist works within the framework of a widely spread value system. Many of the techniques of satire are devices of comparison, to show the similarity or contrast between two things. A list of incongruous items, an oxymoron, metaphors, and so forth are examples Allegory: An allegory is a simple story, such as a fable or parable, whose major purpose is to teach a moral lesson. An allegory can always be read on two levels – one literal, the other symbolic. The underlying meaning can be parallel to, but different from, the surface meaning. Or A figurative work in which a surface narrative carries a secondary, symbolic or metaphorical meaning. Theme: Deception Deception and its repercussions emerge as the central themes of the story, especially the conflict of the state versus its people. The zoo is substandard in this communist society in which appearances mean everything and in which major inadequacies are overlooked because they would, if articulated, reflect badly on the bureaucracy governing the country. Conflict: Man versus Man Man versus State Setting: Zoo in Poland Point of View: The third-person omniscient narrative focuses on the ambitious and self-serving director of the Zoological Gardens in a provincial Polish town. Third Person Omniscient This style is often frowned upon, and comes under fire from many writing style authorities. Nine times out of ten at least, it's a liability to the book. But there are a few stories that must use this style and come out better for it. Since these stories are few and far between, writers are encouraged to use careful judgment, and avoid omniscient viewpoint unless it would add something extraordinary. First, some definitions: third person omniscient is not to be confused with using multiple viewpoints. A writer can have multiple viewpoints in a piece of fiction and can be writing in third person without using third person omniscient. This is covered later on. Third person omniscient is an older narrative style in which a single viewpoint contains all characters and perspectives. SRHSS/For reference only

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The key point to remember in using third person omniscient narration is consistency. Narrative shifts shouldn't happen randomly; they should have a sense of order and rhythm that remains consistent throughout the story. SUMMARY Surface level: The story starts with a description of the zoo director. "He regards his animals simply as stepping stones of his career. He is careless about the educational value of his establishment." Being in a remote town the zoo is not funded and therefore was "lacking all the important animals". On the anniversary of the liberation of Poland, the zoo was informed that it was receiving an elephant. The staffs of the zoo were very happy but they were surprised that their director was preparing a plan for a more economical elephant. The director had written a letter to the higher authority suggesting an economical elephant made of rubber. Thus, money can be saved to buy a jet plane or to conserve some church monuments. His letter was officially sanctioned and the ministry had approved the idea. The director began the preparation of the rubber elephant. The director, who has 3000 rabbits but no elephant, thinks the most important thing is his promotion in his career. So he thinks it doesn’t matter what children are affected by their seeing a spurious elephant. He orders the zoo keepers to blow air into a rubber elephant and to make it as if a real one. He, who was indifferent to educational importance and cared about only his own career, planned to make an elephant out of rubber instead of having a real elephant for saving the cost significantly. He thought that they could fill it with air and place it behind the railings, and that nobody would notice it was not real because elephants are sluggish animals. Two keepers were assigned to blowing the huge rubber elephant really hard; however, they could not make it big enough to look like a real elephant. They got exhausted and came up with an idea that they can fill it with gas and they did. The zoo keepers regarded their duties in a purely bureaucratic manner and do not examine the heart of the matter, but followed only the directives of their superior. The elephant was placed with a big notice proclaimed: Particularly sluggish, next to the monkey’s cage in front of a real rock. And the elephant hardly moved. A party of children from the local school came to see the elephant. At the moment the teacher was explaining to the children how heavy an elephant is, the rubber elephant filled with gas rose in the air and was blown away by a gust of wind disappearing above the trees. Later the elephant was found in the nearby botanical garden being punctured by landing on a cactus. The children who witnessed the scene turned into hooligans and no longer believed in elephants. Satirical allegory: The story exposes the corrupt communist government and its officials in Poland. It reveals the struggle between the citizens and the policies of communist regime. ‘The Elephant’ can be termed as a satire on the follies of the communist government. It indirectly criticizes the drawbacks of communism and the policies implemented in Poland after the Second World War It is an allegory because each character in the story symbolizes something. The elephant is fabricated by the directors of the Zoo symbolizes the manifesto of the communist government. Like the elephant the communist government is also beautiful when seen from outside with its almost utopian principles to provide everyone equality. But deep within the politicians themselves are corrupt and lead to the destruction of the state. These officials feel that they could fool the public by replicating the “real thing” but in reality they are only making fool out of themselves. Communism has brought only atrocities and corruption into Poland. It hasn’t brought relief to the majority as promised, nor has it ended oppression as purposed. The metaphorical symbol in the story symbols in the story gives us clear image of the leaders holding the absolute monopoly in power and thus using forces to keep it concealed. The underlying meaning attached to the different abnormal animals in the zoo could be a way to symbolize their acts – the short necked giraffe can be the officials cut off from seeing what exactly the communist politicians were up to. The badgers, who have lost SRHSS/For reference only

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their burrows, could be the officials who have lost their post for going against their leaders. The whistlers could be the revolutionist or the critics, who wanted to bring out the truth of the politicians but reluctantly whistled, because of their lives at stake. These short comings shouldn’t have been allowed especially as the zoo was often visited by school children. The communist manifesto looks attractive and magnificent from outside, the way it is designed but internally it is hallow just like the rubber elephant which was inflated with air. The zoo represents the country, animals, and the defective policies of the government. The director represents the corrupt officials who are manipulative, self centered and least bothered about the well-being, sentiments and feelings of the innocent people. They were selfish and concerned about their own career rather than the welfare of the state. The two keepers represent the lower working class. These innocent people have to carry out their duties according to the whims and fancies of the higher officials; they were also involved in the corruption and manipulation of the government policies. The children represent the innocent citizens who have a lot of faith in the government as per the promises made in the communist manifesto. However, when they know the reality and motives of the government they are enraged, become violent and turn against the government. Study questions:  What is a satire?  What is an allegory?  What is the setting of the story?  Who are the characters in the story?  What is the point of view?  Why do they create the fake elephant?  What do you think it means that is filled with gas?  What happens to the elephant?  What do you think the author is criticizing?  What do you think the elephant stands for?  What could it stand for in Bhutan? In other countries?  Why was the elephant important for the zoo?  What happened to the elephant in the end of the story?  Explain the literal and symbolic meanings of the short story.  Examine the story as a satirical allegory.  Whom do you think the author is criticizing in the story?  Why did the Director and the authorities plan a fake elephant?  Give the plot summary of “The Elephant” in your own words.

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