What is an Elephant Man?

The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance This a link to where you may purchase the play and read reviews by others, this is not an endorsement by me of this website. I like to include a way for you to read the subject of each post if you have not done so, but alas this play is not available except by purchase or library. I highly recommend this read, and as you read, think about the world in which you are living, the world you grew up in, and the world the way you hope it might be tomorrow.
          This play set in London and Western Europe in the 19th century, a time when the second industrial revolution was changing the world faster than people could keep up. A time when advancements in medicine and mechanical technology were exploding. Inventors were inventing and the wealthy were gaining more wealth, while the poor and uneducated were falling even further behind. The culture of living in a self sustained life in a semi rural setting was over and areas were becoming more urbanized. The one truth that follows big cities everywhere in the world is poverty, "ghettos." They don't start out like that but when job markets change and the workers have no other job skills or places to work what do they do? and what does this have to do with the Elephant Man?
           This play opens with a young Doctor fresh out of medical school ready to save the world from all its' horrible diseases. Then cuts right away to a crier shouting to the crowd to come into his tent and witness one of the most horrific freaks of nature known to man. The young doctor curious, first because he thinks he has seen everything in medical school, second because he hasn't seen everything. He pondered what if this is really true, I might be able to cure this beast (freak) and I'll be the hero. He bargains with the crier and goes in, it is real! He wants a real examination in the hospital where the good doctor has access to his tools. He also takes the opportunity to display the man to his colleagues.
           Back to my questions, this all started in the beginning of Joseph "John" Merrick's life. He lived in a "work farm" orphanage (factory house?). There is very little mentioned about his mother and no mention of his father. His mother did not have the means to care for him and they were no doubt in one of these ghettos. A character by the name of Ross sees John and knows he could charge people to see this freak, because people love to see freaks. People seem to take the opportunity to look, pay to look, at something or someone that is abnormal as a way to see themselves as normal. a great example is when you see a woman that is over 6 feet tall most everyone says WOW!! She is Tall! Meaning that in some way this is not normal or the same way if someone is really short, fat, or skinny. Acceptance is a powerful inate motivator, and we all want to be accepted. Even the nonconformist wants to find others like them to bond with, which is conformimg (irony). I think this story would have been a completely different story if Merrick had been born into a wealthy or more affluent family. If the family would have had the resources to get him medical care, limited as it may have been in those days, it would have been an attempt to make things better for him. Despite his condition Merrick would have been educated and socialized. Maybe not full on socialization but he would have had a sense of family and friends. I say all of this to point out that in the story as Merrick, bathes everyday, reads, and socializes he is seen more as a normal person, as if he were not before he moved into the hospital and started doing the things normal people do. His disorder was not lessened in fact was always getting worse, but because he was treated more like a normal person he was seen more like a normal person. Pomerance tells the true story about Merrick's life, tragedy and triumph. I feel that Pomerance looked for a story in which he didn't have to grossly disfigure the main character in such a way that the reader might question whether someone could really have a disease like that, in order to present to the reader the true goal of this story. I feel he wanted the reader to realize that we all have feelings, dreams, desires, and the need to be loved. That no matter what we look like on the outside we are still a person. Merrick was a real person, that really lived with a terrible disorder, that gives more credibility to this underlying theme. We may think differently, look differently, talk differently, and even eat different things, but at our core, we may also share the dreams about our lives. This is also a story about circumstance, do not wallow in yours; rise up out of it, others may have it worse than you. Dare to live and dream inspite of your physical limitations, everyday is a gift, that is why it is called the present.