The Elephant Man

1a. Is John Merrick a monster? In your answer, consider how you could use the following areas of knowledge to justify your claims. (history, natural science, social science, the arts)

-In my opinion, John Merrick is not a monster. He is a normal human being with emotions, and he has a wonderful ability to show compassion, despite being afraid to at first. I can justify this through history, because a monster is someone like Hitler, who shows no emotion whatsoever, because he is a mass-murderer of so many people. John Merrick was not like Hitler at all. I'm not really quite sure how the others would fit in, because we haven't studied this and I don't understand...

1b. What is the counter-claim for each area of knowledge?

-I know that a counter claim for history would be that in fairy-tales, children are brought up to believe that monsters are people with physical deformities. For example, green creatures with fangs and only one eye is a childhood version of a monster. Therefore people could argue that because John Merrick has physical deformities, he resembles a childhood version of a monster.

2. John Merrick claimed, "I am not an animal, I am a human being." What does he mean? How does he know?

-John Merrick is trying to convey that he is sick of people treating him like an animal, where they act like he is unable to understand what is going on. In reality, he can very well understand what is being down to him by others, and he has feelings attached to this. He knows this through emotion, because he is able to feel humiliated by the people while they show him nude to a crowd of people; he is able to feel love when he is reading Romeo and Juliet with that other girl. He is just a human being, like every one else, who happens to have a deformed body.

3. Dr. Treves claimed, "Am I a good man, or am I a bad man?" What does he mean? How does he know?

-He is questioning whether or not he is doing the same thing to John as his owner once did. he is unsure as to whether he is actually helping John to develop and realize that he is just a normal human being, or if he is just putting him up to be looked at and humiliated like he was before. He has to justify what he believes through his own perception and reason, by figuring out that eh actually is helping John to become a better person because John is developing, and he feels happy and safe where he is.

4. What role does the herd mentality play in the film? Please be specific in your answers.

- I believe that the "herd" mentality" plays a huge role in the film, because it really helps to reveal who the true monsters are. It seems as though wherever the mob of people are, the monster is revealed. For instance, at the beginning, there is a mob of people around, which reveals John Merrick when he is first seen as a monster. When John Merrick is at the hospital, and the man who does the night patrol comes into his room with a crowd of people, another mosnter is revealed (the man who does the night patrol.) It seems as though the large groups of people bring out the worst in people. Maybe this is because it is sort of like a huge battle: a bunch of people against one.

5. How did the community react to the different monsters in the film? Please explain your answer.

-The community reacted to John Merrick by basically making fun of him for the beginning part of the film, once they finally got to know him however, their viewpoint of him changed and they did become much kinder to him. This is because they realized that he was just a human being like everyone else. However, another monster in this movie was the owner of John Merrick. At first, nobody realized that he was a monster, because he was too busy pointing out what he viewed to be another monster. But then, when the real side of John Merrick was revealed, people began to see that his owner might have been the real monster. An example of this sticks out in my mind when close to the end, the owner steals John Merrick back and puts him up for a show. He is doing the show, and then all of a sudden John Merrick falls over and can't get back up. The people see how cruel John Merrick was treated, and they start to boo at his owner; I think this certainly shows something significant about whot he real monster is.

6. John Merrick claims, "we are afraid of what we don't understand." Do you agree? Does this statement apply to the modern world or have we learned to treat perceived monsters with dignity? Please be specific with your answer.

-I do agree with John Merrick's statement very much. As human beings we tend to edge away from what we don't know, because we feel so comfortable with what we do know. It is similar to the saying that "we are afraid of the unknown." Personally, I know I fear this very much. I think this statement does apply to the real world, because for the most part when we see someone who is a bit different than us, we begin to act differently, may even without realizing it. For instance, sometimes a person may be in a restaurant, and a person with a mental disability might be there- we then, as an instinct, may start to feel a bit uncomfortable. Or even if we don't feel uncomfortable, we feel different than we would feel if it they were not there. Maybe we feel a bit bad for them, but we don't want to show it, so we act differently. However we may feel, things certainly change when we are around a person who may be different than our normal schema.