The Elephant Man

Introduction

Elephant Man is the true story of the life of Joseph Merrick who lived in England. He was born on August 5, 1862 and died in April 1890. He is remembered for two things: the disease, now known as multiple neurofibromatosis, which made his appearance repulsive to most people; and secondly, his gentle and kind personality which won him many friends and made the last years of his life happy.

Early Days

Joseph seemed to be a normal baby, but around the age of 21 months, strange growths appeared on his head, face, lips, and right hand. No one knew why this happened. His mother thought it was because she had been frightened and knocked down by an elephant, that had escaped from the fair, when she was pregnant. Somehow, she thought, her fear had caused her young boy to grow ugly, big and wrinkled, like an elephant.

Joseph's mother loved him very much. She didn't care about his looks. She sent him to school and tried to treat him like other children. She had another baby, William Arthur, and finally, a daughter, Marion Eliza. Joseph's mother got sick when she was 36 years old, and she died soon after. Joseph was just 10 years old.

His father remarried - this time to a young widow, named Emma, who had children of her own. She didn't like Joseph because of his appearance, and treated him badly. He began to run away to his uncle's place, but usually his father would come to take him home again. Joseph was very unhappy, and one day when he was 15, he ran away, never to return to his father's house. He never saw his father again.

Joseph lived with his uncle for two years. He was happy. To earn money, he sold gloves and stockings to people in the street. But Joseph became more and more repulsive, and the growths on his body got larger and more grotesque. He quit his work of selling gloves and stockings because people in the street were afraid of him. His uncle couldn't keep him any longer. And so, just after Christmas in 1879, Joseph moved into a workhouse for poor people.

Physical Characteristics

Joseph grew more and more unsightly as he grew older. Although he was only 5'2" tall, parts of his body were very big. The circumference of his huge head was 36". His enormous skull was irregular in shape. There were growths the size of oranges popping out of his skull. He had little hair, and kept losing it until he was almost bald. Although his left arm and hand were of normal size and had smooth skin, his right wrist was 12" in circumference, and it was clumsy and useless to Joseph. His biggest finger was 5" around.

Strangely, however, his fingernails were perfect. His skin hung in loose folds, or wrinkles, over his body and it was rough. Growths like cauliflowers covered his body. It was hard to keep himself clean, so Joseph wreaked of a foul odor.

Because his lips were so twisted, it was hard to understand Joseph's speech. Many people thought he was an imbecile, or very stupid. But in fact, Joseph was very intelligent.

The Days of Vanity Fair

Mr. Sam Torr was a comedian and a showman. He sang funny songs and played tricks. He was also interested in exhibiting freaks and monsters such as "The Electric Lady", midgets, and now, "The Elephant Man". People would pay a few pennies to see Joseph, nearly naked. They could see his huge right hand, the ugly lumps on his head, and his twisted lips and mouth. The show moved from one town to the next.

When the show reached London a young doctor named Frederick Treves went to see Joseph. He was very interested in Joseph's sickness and he examined Joseph carefully. He wanted to tell other doctors about this strange human being, hoping they would help in diagnosing Joseph's problems. Treves' colleagues, however, were not interested.

The show moved on to other towns and cities. Joseph was cared for and he was earning money. He was content. But then, people stopped coming to the freak shows. They did not think it was funny to see human beings like the Elephant Man. Instead, they felt sorry for him and many people asked the police to close down the show.

Once again, Joseph was alone and poor. He took the train back to London, and having no money, no job, no friends, and nowhere to go, he took a chance on asking Dr. Treves for help. It was Joseph's saddest moment.

Happy Days

Dr. Treves remembered Joseph immediately, and went to help him. He brought him to the hospital where he gave Joseph a room to himself. The nurses bathed him and fed him.

Soon Joseph was happy again. Although he could not easily leave the hospital because he would frighten people on the street, Dr. Treves found interesting people who came to the hospital to befriend Joseph. These friends didn't care that Joseph was ugly. They took him to the theatre, on holidays in the country, and came often to his room to visit him. They gave money to the hospital to help take care of Joseph for the rest of his life.

Joseph became famous, and famous people such as the Princess of Wales wanted to be his friend. Dr. Treves was probably Joseph's best friend. They visited everyday: they talked, looked at pictures and enjoyed each other's company. Joseph loved to spend time making models of the beautiful cathedral he could see from his window.

The End

Joseph became weaker and sicker. When he was only 27 he was like an old man. His head was enormous, and he was in danger of choking in his sleep from the weight of his head. Dr. Treves knew there was no cure or treatment for the disease. Still, Joseph was happy with the visits of his friends, his few trips out of the hospital, his reading, and writing letters.

The end came on April 11, 1890. Joseph died gently and peacefully in his sleep.

Adapted from Howell, M. and Ford, P. 1980: The true story of the Elephant Man.

London, England: Allison and Busby Ltd., Adapted by Hetty Roessingh.

The picture appears on p. 98 of the book.

Elephant Man

1. What is the medical name for Joseph's disease?

2. Where did the name Elephant Man come from?

3. How many children were there in Joseph's family?

4. After Joseph quit school, he had to earn money. What did he do to earn money?

5. Why did Joseph want to quit his job?

6. Joseph had many unusual physical characteristics. In the chart below, compare your physical characteristics to Joseph's.

Physical Characteristics	Me	Joseph
Height
Circumference of skull
Circumference of right wrist
Circumference of thumb
Texture of skin
Fingernails

7. Measure the height of everyone in the class. Chart the information on the blackboard, remembering to give the chart a title, noting the total N (number of people you measured), and labelling the x and y axis of the chart. Write a short report about your findings. Use the following vocabulary in your report:

tallest shortest range average

mean mode median data

Use these questions to guide your writing:

What did we do?

What did we find?

What does it mean?

8. After the job of selling things on the street, what work did Joseph do to earn money?

9. People stopped coming to the freak shows. Why?

10. Who did Joseph go to when he was poor, alone and had nowhere to go?

11. Where did Joseph go to live for the rest of his life?

12. Why was it so hard to visit with Joseph?

13. Do you remember ever feeling different from other people? _______

How did you feel?

Tell the class about a time you really wanted to be like others, but you couldn't be. What stopped you from doing what you wanted to do?

14. Joseph's days in the hospital were happy ones. Give three reasons why:

15. In English we sometimes say, "never judge a book by its cover", or "beauty is only skin deep". What do you think these expressions mean?

How do these expressions relate to the story?

Do you have an expression in your language that conveys the same thought?

Write it in your language on the line below:

_____________________________________________________

Now translate it back into English:

_____________________________________________________

NOTE: These idiomatic expressions sometimes express an idea that is universally understood, but each culture has its own way of putting it in words.

16. Vocabulary development:

Without looking in the dictionary tell what these words mean (give an example, give another word that means the same thing, or use the word in a sentence to show you understand)

§ repulsive:

§ frightened:

§ remarried:

§ widow:

§ appearance:

§ grotesque:

§ unsightly:

§ circumference:

§ enormous:

§ bald:

§ clumsy:

§ wrinkles:

§ wreaked:

§ odor:

§ imbecile:

§ exhibiting:

§ freaks:

§ examined:

§ diagnosing:

§ colleagues:

§ befriend:

§ choking:

§ cure:

§ treatment:

§ peacefully:

17. Work with verbs: give the present tense of these verbs.

Past: Present:

§ sent

§ won

§ knew

§ remarried

§ ran

§ sold

§ grew

§ thought

§ gave

§ found

§ took

§ wreaked

18. Comparative and superlative forms: fill in the chart with the correct forms.

	*Comparative*	*Superlative*
short	shorter	shortest
ugly
unhappy
gentle
kind
repulsive
bad
good
intelligent
funny
sad

Write the rules for spelling/making the comparative and superlative forms:

Ø When the word ends in "y" __________________________________________.

Ø When the word is three or more syllables _______________________________.

19. Pretend you are Dr. Treves and Joseph Merrick is your patient. You have examined him. Write a short report about what you noticed in your examination.

20. More vocabulary work. You can often tell the meaning of a word by analysing the word. In the words below, identify the root word, then tell what the word means. The first one has been done for you.

Word Root Meaning

incurable cur(e) cannot cure or fix

1. unsightly

2. irregular

3. useless

4. newborn

5. disfigured

6. cauliflowerlike

7. disorder

8. treatable

9. unpredictable

10. remarry

21. Stop the film in the last 8-10 minutes. Treves has just said good night to John after having spent the evening at the ballet. John tells him he had a wonderful time. Treves goes home. We see John getting ready for bed, and removing the pillows.

What is John going to do?
Why do you think he chooses this night to be his last/
How do you think Treves will feel when he finds out John has died?
How do you feel about John choosing to end his life in this way?

22. Show the film to the end. Talk about the images in the last few minutes that represent death and dying. How do these images make you feel?

Completing Familiar Structures

Circle the best answer:

1. Lihn is _________ than Lan.

short shortest very short shorter

2. Rami is the _________ person in the class.

very tall tallest tall taller

3. The Elephant Man was __________________ .

most intelligent more intelligent less intelligent very intelligent

4. We _________ the height of everyone in the class yesterday.

will measure measure measured are measuring

5. The _________ movie I have ever seen is Three Men and a Baby.

funny funnier very funny funniest

6. The Elephant Man looked at _________ in the mirror.

him his himself he

7. Many people _________ money to the hospital to keep the Elephant Man.

gave give will give are giving

8. The Elephant Man _________ his job of selling gloves on the street because people were afraid of him.

was quitting is quitting had to quit has to quit

9. In the story of the Elephant Man, John's mother _________ him to school, like other children.

sent send will send has sent

10. _________ wanted to help the Elephant Man.

Dr. Treves Dr. Treve's Dr. Treves' Treve's

11. The story of the Elephant man took place in London, England _________ .

for 100 years in 100 years 100 years ago 100 years

12. The _________ washed and fed Joseph.

nurses nurse's nurses' nursed

13. _________ mother died when he was ten years old.

John John's Johns' Johns

14. At the hospital, John had a room to _________ .

him his self himself

15. John Merrick _________ for the disease which made him ugly.

was remembered remembered remember is remembered

16. John did not have _________ hair.

much few some little

17. John _________ peacefully in his sleep.

dyed die died is dying

18. Tuan is the _________ student I know.

intelligent very intelligent more intelligent most intelligent

19. He is _________ than his math teacher!

intelligent very intelligent most intelligent more intelligent

20. In the story of the Elephant Man, John's friends _________ that he was ugly.

don't care haven't cared didn't care hasn't cared

21. In the story of the Elephant Man, John's friends _________ him to the theatre.

took take have taken will take

22. The Elephant Man _________ a disease that made him ugly.

have has had is

23. People _________ coming to the freak shows because they did not find them funny.

stop stopped stopping were stopping

24. The Elephant Man _________ living in the hospital.

happy happier happiest was happy

25. The Elephant Man asked the doctor if he _________ him.

could cure cured cure incurable

The most striking feature about him was his enormous and misshapen head.From the brow there projected a huge bony mass like a loaf, while from the back of the head hung a bag of spongy, fungous-looking skin, the surface of which was comparable to brown cauliflower.

-Dr. Frederick Treves, 1923

John Merrick, the Victorian Englishman whose life is the subject of the Broadway hit, "The Elephant Man," was so grotesquely deformed that his appearance aroused shock and outrage. The cause of his hideous disfigurement and death in 1890 at the age of 25: a devastating disease called neurofibromatosis. Although few victims are as severely afflicted as Merrick, NF remains an incurable, potentially fatal and little understood disorder. It is also surprisingly common. An estimated 100,000 Americans suffer from NF - more than the combined number of patients with cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, sickle-cell anemia and Huntington's chorea.

Masses: The first symptoms of NF - usually present in infancy - are small tan marks on the skin known as cafe au lait spots. Most victims later develop dozens of benign skin tumors, sometimes as big as pencil erasers that commonly appear on the chest, abdomen and back. According to neurologist Dr. Allan E. Rubenstein of New York's Mt. Sinai Medical Center, 20 percent of NF patients suffer severe deformities. Their skin tumors may blossom into huge, cauliflowerlike masses. Abnormal bone growth can increase head size, twist the face into a distorted mask or produce a grossly misshapen hand or foot.

Other aspects of NF pose a grave risk to the victim's health.

One patient in five will develop tumors of the brain and spinal cord, often resulting in blindness and deafness. Left unchecked, such growths can produce mental retardation, impaired coordination and even death. NF is also associated with malignant tumors and a fatal form of hypertension.

Perhaps the cruellest feature of the disease is that its progress is totally unpredictable; even those with the mildest form may suddenly suffer life-threatening complications.

Few NF patients escape emotional strain.

Few NF patients escape emotional strain. Lynne Courtemanche, a registered nurse and president of the National NF Foundation, experienced an agonizing adolescence because of the hundreds of small skin tumors on her body. "I was teased and treated like a freak," she recalls.

Parents of NF children often feel guilty and helpless. Tony and Cheryl Caravella, whose 2-year-old son has the disease, suffer on his behalf. "Something is already working against him before he's started," says Cheryl.

Firm Decision: NF is cause by a single dominant gene that is either inherited or - in about half the cases - produced by a spontaneous genetic mutation.

In either instance, an affected person has a 50-50 chance of passing the condition on to his or her offspring. The disease cannot be diagnosed prenatally, and many victims, including Courtemanche, have made a firm decision not to have children.

Although NF cannot be prevented or cured, some symptoms are treatable. Surgeons can remove skin tumors and correct certain bone deformities. They can also operate on tumors of the optic and auditory nerves before they threaten other brain functions.

But the best hope for NF victims lies in research. Scientists suspect hormones may play a role in the disease, since it often flares up during puberty and pregnancy.

A long-term study of 100 members of a Pennsylvania family, all afflicted with NF, has yielded another promising clue: victims seem to show abnormal levels of certain chemicals involved in nerve growth.

A significant breakthrough in NF research could be years away.

Meanwhile, investigators are trying to educate physicians about the disorder. Last week, actor Philip Anglim, who portrayed John Merrick on Broadway, joined the NF cause. Appearing before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, Anglim made a plea for $300 million to finance research. Victims of the disease, he told the congressmen, "are trapped inside bodies that don't work and aren't beautiful."

Jean Seligmann with Dan Shapiro

NEWSWEEK/MARCH 24, 1980

MEDICINE

The Curse of the Elephant Man

Newsweek Magazine, March 24, 1980, p.64

1. How did people feel when they saw the Elephant man at the carnival freak show?

2. What is the scientific name for the disease he had?

3. What words tell you that we don't know very much about this disease?

4. When does the disease begin? Find the word:_______________________________

5. Why is this disease so difficult to have/deal with?

6. How do the parents of children with this disease feel?

7. How do you get this disease?

8. What is the best hope for this disease?

9. It is not curable, but it is treatable. Explain the difference.

10. What can doctors do for this disease?

11. The main idea of this article has to do with abnormal growth. Find all the words that mean abnormal.

12. Use the chart below to find as many words that you can put into each column:

Not shaped properly

What does it look like?

How bad is it?

12. Use the chart below to find as many words that you can put into each column:

(ANSWER SHEET)

Not shaped properly

What does it look like?

How bad is it?

misshapen

disfigured

distorted

abnormal

deformed

pencil eraser

cauliflower

loaf

spongy bag

blossoms

mask

freak

devastating

hideous

shock

severe

gross

grave

cruel

life-threatening

fatal

agonizing

B 6 The Calgary Herald, Friday, December 31, 1999

SURGERY

90-kg tumour removed

FRANK LENTINI’s three legs made a popular sideshow.

An incredible man who was the result of non-separating triplets in his mother's womb was called the King of Freaks.

Frank Lentini, who had three legs, two sets of genitals, four feet (one hidden) and 16 toes, was born in Sicily in 1889. He was brought to the US in 1898 by a circus.

Lentini could use the third leg growing out of the base of his spine as a stool, and when on tour with the circus used it to kick a football the length of a sideshow tent, according to Charles Fox and Tom Parkinson in their book The Circus In America.

Lentini had an amiable disposition despite his horrible deformities. He was one of the most famous performers in circus history and attracted huge, curious crowds wherever he went.

Incredibly, Lentini married after his retirement from the circus and raised four children.

* * *

The original Siamese twins, Eng and Chang, traveled with various circuses for years and were among their greatest attractions.

Incredibly, they also married after retirement, lived in North Carolina, and fathered several children.

Eng and Chang were born in 1811 in Siam and were joined by a ligament from the breastbone to the navel. They were never trained to perform and were marketed solely as sideshow freaks.

Hundreds of other men and women of enormous heights, weights, and fantastic physical characteristics have amazed and saddened us over the years.

Some were lucky or resourceful enough to find happiness despite their terrible handicaps, but others were not so fortunate.

* * *

Robert Wadlow with his brother.

Robert Wadlow (1919-1940) was the tallest human being who ever lived - an amazing 8 ft., 11.1 in.!

Wadlow, of Alton, Illinois, was the son of normal parents and had several brothers and sisters of average height. He carried his tremendous bulk of more than 500 lbs. with grace, but tired easily. When he died, doctors said they were surprised his spine supported his huge body for 21 years.

* * *

The tallest women in history are believed to be Sandy Allen, 32, of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, and Jane Bunford (1895-1922), of Bartley Green, England - each 7 ft., 7 1/4 in. Allen was exhibited for eight years at the Guinness Museum of World Records. She earned $40,000 a year, but quit last year because she was bored and annoyed at being pawed by tourists.

Bunford, who let her hair grow to more than seven feet, would have measured 7 ft., 11 in. except for a curvature of the spine, some doctors said.

Walter Hudson, of New York, and Robert Hughes (1926-1958) are accepted as the heaviest men and America's Flora Jackson (1930-1965) the heaviest woman in history.

* * *

Hudson, who has reduced to about 825 lbs. with the help of nutrition guru Dick Gregory, reached a fantastic 1,200 lbs. in 1986 before starting his diet. Hughes was once weighed at 1,069 lbs. and Jackson, known

as Baby Flo in showbiz, carried 840 lbs. on a 5 ft. 9 in. frame.

* * *

Tom Thumb (1838-1883), the most famous circus midget in history, stood 3 ft., 4 in. at the time of his death. He was one of Barnum's greatest attractions in the US and Europe from 1842 to 1847.

Caroline Crachami who stood 1 ft., 8 in. tall, is considered the shortest human in history. The Sicilian-born girl was exhibited in London, England, in 1823, but died a year later.

Her tiny body was donated to London's Royal College of Surgeons over the frantic objections of her grieving father.

Other renowned freaks who stirred our curiosity include the Giraffe Neck Women, the Ubangi Savages, and bearded women.

Sandy Allen, the tallest woman in history.

Early Days

Physical Characteristics

The Days of Vanity Fair

The End

Physical Characteristics

Me

Word Root Meaning

incurable cur(e) cannot cure or fix

Group is dedicated to education on disfigurement

By Stephen Erwin

Group is dedicated to education on disfigurement

The Curse of the Elephant Man

Jean Seligmann with Dan Shapiro

SURGERY

90-kg tumour removed