How is the book Water for Elephants related to the story of Jacob in the bible?

Answer 1

I went through the chapters in Genesis and only found a few small parallels. There is one discussed in the reader's guide at the end of the book that says Jacob "lies back on the bank, resting my head on a flat stone." Also it says in the Biblical story that Jacob "stayed among the tents"--a reference indicating that he was studious and had a reserved personality like Gruen's Jacob (who also spent time "among the tents"). Jacob agrees to serve Rachel's father for 7 years to win her hand as his bride. (This is how long Gruen's Jacob spends in the circus, with Marlena as his bride." In The Bible, Jacob takes care of Rachel's father's animals, and ends up leaving and going back home with quite a few animals (like Gruen's Jacob, who leaves the circus with an elephant, a dog, a monkey, and 11 horses). Jacob accused Laban (Rachel's father) of "changing my pay time after time" just as Gruen's Jacob has trouble getting his pay from Uncle Al.