The Elephant - Slawomir Mrozek

 

The Elephant - Slawomir Mrozek

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction (Satirical allegory)

Point of view: The story is written in the third person omniscient

Characters: Director of the zoo, school children, teacher, two zoo keepers, a government official

Characterization:
1. Director of Zoo: He is an upstart. A very selfish leader, who is concerned only about his job and money. (A flat or static character)

2. School Children: Very innocent people who turn into hooligans because of the selfish motives of the Director. (Round or dynamic character)

3. Two Zoo Keepers: Corrupted officials. Does not have a work ethic, not intelligent though they are sly.

4. Government official: Not at all mindful. Very foolish.

Setting: The story is taking place in a small zoological garden in a provincial town in Poland. The story was written after Second World War when Poland was controlled by the communist government.

Conflict:
1. Internal Conflict: Zoo Director Vs his selfish motive
2. External Conflict: State Vs the people or People Vs Society

Theme: the story reveals the effects of deceiving innocent citizens.

Symbolism used in the story

1. The Zoo - The country Poland
2. Zoo Director - Typical/corrupted Government Official
3. The Elephant and Flying Elephant - Government goal, policies, or manifesto (looks magnificent and promising but filled with deception and false promises)
4. The Zoo Keepers - Corrupted and irrational officials/ officials lacking dedication
5. Elephant filled with gas - Country filled with corrupt officials who make false and empty promises.
6. School Children - Innocent citizens disillusioned by false promises.
7. Animals with shortcomings - Government policies have loopholes or weaknesses.
8. Misbehaving students - Angry citizens showing their dissatisfaction and frustration.

Irony
largest land animal weighing 9 to 13 thousand pounds, gets blown away by a gust of wind and punctured by cactus.

Personifications
1. Giraffe with a short neck
2. Badgers without burrows
3. Whistlers whistles seldom with reluctance
4. Elephant
These are a few examples of personifications used in the story. What it personifies can be viewed in the symbolism section written by Anand Dikshit in his blog.

Satire
1. Three thousand rabbits were a poor substitute for the noble giant- It satirizes the weaknesses and the defect in the manifestos and policies of the government.
2. Renouncing the elephant and placing an elephant in the zoo in a more economical way - satirizes the politicians who don't care about the policies and manifestos. Who do whatever they think is beneficial for them not the country as a whole.
3. Particularly Sluggish. Hardly moves. - satirizes the politicians who hardly work for the benefit of the general mass and the country as a whole.

The whole story is filled with satire. These are a few, which I think of as satire.

Textual Meaning of the Story
The story takes place in the zoo in a small provincial town in Poland. The Director, an upstart, did not care about the educational value of animals and the zoo which was frequently visited by school children. It was evident from the defective giraffe, the badger without burrows, and the whistlers, which whistled rarely and with some reluctance.
All he cared about was his promotion. On the Liberation Day of Poland, the zoo was notified about receiving an elephant, to which the devoted officials rejoiced, however, they were surprised to learn that Director had sent a letter to Warsaw renouncing the offer and placing a rubber elephant to reduce the cost and divert that money in buying jet plane or conservation of church monuments.
The proposal was approved instantly. On Ministry's approval, the Director gave the instruction to his two zoo keepers to blow the air in the rubber elephant and ready it by morning. The work was to be carried out in secret.
The zoo keepers had a very difficult time doing the job assigned to them. Nevertheless, they came up with a sly idea of filling the rubber elephant with gas. And to their contentment, in seconds there was a huge, magnificent giant ready to be placed in the park.
The next morning, the elephant was placed in the central part of the zoo near the monkey cage in front of a large rock with a clear notice displayed, "Particularly sluggish. Hardly moves."
The first visitor of the day was a group of schoolchildren escorted by the teacher. The teacher had planned to give them an object lesson about the elephant. The teacher started the lesson and students took notes with enraptured admiration. The very second teacher dictates about its weight be around 9 to 13 thousand pounds, the largest living animal on land due to a slight breeze takes flight astonishing children and monkeys.
The descendant of the non-extinct mammoth had landed on a cactus and had punctured its rubber hide in the neighboring botanical garden. The children who witnessed the scene started neglecting their studies and turned into hooligans. And the sad part, they no longer believed in elephants.

Symbolic Meaning
The story criticizes the wrongdoings and follies of the corrupt communist government and its officials in Poland. It reveals the Polish mob's dissatisfaction and anger with the officials and the policies of the communist regime.
The zoo symbolizes Poland and the rubber elephant fabricated by Director symbolizes the manifestos or the policy of the Polish communist government. Like the elephant, the manifestos, and the policy of the communist government, it looks beautiful when seen from the outside but when closely examined the politicians are corrupted and don't care about the welfare of the country.
The corrupted officials think they can easily fool the public but in reality, they are making fools of themselves. The fabrication of a rubber elephant and filling it with air show their stupidity, and they try to deceive the public without thinking about the future consequences.
The zoo has animals with deficiencies like; giraffes with short neck, badgers who have lost their burrows, and whistlers, that seldom whistled, symbolizing government policies having lots of defects and weaknesses.
The communist policies and manifestos look beautiful from the outside but inside the officials make false and empty promises that they do not care about later. The rubber elephant inflated with air, and diverting the money for buying jet planes and conserving church monuments are just empty promises that the politicians make.
The ones to suffer because of the false and empty promises are the innocent people (School children). Because of the corruption and oppression, the people at the end of the story become violent and turn against the government.

 Practice Question

i.       “…Kindly note that both the idea and its execution are my modest contribution to the common task and struggle.” What is his hidden motive behind writing the letter to Warsaw?

A.    To renounce the allocation and forward his plan of obtaining an elephant by more economic means

B.    He wanted to be recognized and was expecting a bonus/promotion for his efforts

C.    As a concerned citizen he wanted to contribute and help the country save money

D.    He wanted higher officials to recognize his patriotic trait

ii.   The zoological garden management should not have allowed/accepted the fabricated elephant to be placed in the zoo because it was

A.    Visited by school children for educational purposes

B.    Located in the main town

C.    A home to many animals

D.    A recreational place

iii. The animals with a shortcoming in the zoo symbolize

A.    Defective government policies

B.    Selfish nature of Polish people

C.    Foolishness of the officials

D.    Status of the country

1. The Director's proposal was promptly approved. What does it symbolize?

2. "The Director of the Zoological Garden is not at all worthy of the post." Explain the statement with the supportive argument from the story.

3. Explain the symbolic significance of 'Rubber elephant filled with gas'.

4. With what intention did the Director write a letter to Warsaw?

5. Deception and its repercussions emerge as the central theme of the story. Elucidate. 

6. If you were one of the devoted staff of the zoo, what steps would you have taken to go against your director’s proposal to obtain a real elephant?

7.  As the school teacher in the context, who witnessed an elephant flying with the school children, what support would you provide to help your students who started neglecting their studies and turned into hooligans.

8. A big notice proclaimed: "Particularly sluggish. Hardly moves." What does the notice symbolize?

9. The Director's idea of installing a fake elephant failed in the end. Instead of receiving a bonus, what possible consequences do you think he might have faced in the end?  

10. The two keepers were contended and satisfied with the idea of filling rubber elephants with gas, however, it failed miserably in the end. If you were the zoo keeper tasked with the work, how would you have done it differently and why?