The story, “The Elephant Man”, written by Bernard Pomerance talks about Joseph Merrick, a displeased man from Leicester workhouse. People unwelcomed and humiliated him because of his abnormal physical appearance. Ross, the manager of the show, called Merrick as the “Elephant Man” and used Merrick’s disfigurement to earn money by using the people’s hatred of ugliness to make money. On the other hand, Treves, a doctor, was curious about Merrick and brought him to the hospital for a medical examination. Treves found that there was an osseous near Merrick’s eyes. Many cauliflower-like things were on Merrick’s thighs, back, and arm, except for the left hand. During the examination. After the examination, Treves sent Merrick back to the show and one audience member said that it was a disgrace that Merrick was treated unkindly. Something must be done to help Merrick. “The Elephant Man” gives a profound exploration of human nature. Let’s discuss human nature from the eyes of Ross, Treves, and the audience.
Viewed through the eyes of Ross, Merrick’s exploitative show manager, the descriptions unfold the dark side of human nature in being cruel, taking advantage of others’ weaknesses, and manipulating others’ curiosity. Ross’s treatment toward Merrick vividly depicts the dreadful aspect of human nature: the ability to dehumanize the vulnerable people and exploit those in weaker positions for personal gains. Ross, the manager of the show, was cruel to Merrick. He didn’t consider Merrick’s feelings. He showed no empathy toward Merrick’s physical deformity and treated him like an animal rather than a human being. It is true that Ross gives Merrick food, water, shelter, and clothing to fulfill Merrick’s basic daily needs to help Meriick survive. However, that does not justify Ross’s right to treat Merrick like an animal, something trashy. Merrick had feelings, thoughts, and emotions, and he wanted to be understood. But Ross degraded and devalued Merrick’s worth, showing no empathy and kindness, which further highlights his cruelty. Ross displayed his exploitative human nature by taking advantage of Merrick's weakness, which was his physical deformities, to arrange a show and make money. Being selfish, Ross used Merrick’s half-man half-elephant physical appearance to attract paying customers to see a show. Ross only cared about money since he kept saying “Tuppence! Tuppence!”, which was very little in order to drag the audience in seeing the monster. Ross didn’t care about Merrick’ body or his emotional status. Ross exploited Merrick’s weakness of physical appearance for his own financial gains.His exploitation of Merrick’s weakness again reflects his lack of empathy and ethical thoughts. Ross recognized people’s curiosity for something they never see and manipulated their curiosity to attract paying customers to see the show for business. When Ross makes an announcement on the street about Merrick’s mysterious body figure, he carefully presents limited information that triggers paying customer’s curiosity and drawing them into the mind of wanting to see the show of the elephant man. For Ross, the more people coming to the show, the more profit he could make. Ross skillfully manipulates people’s inner curiosity for making his own money, but his manipulation does not consider the emotional impact to Merrick, which is very cruel. Ross’s attitudes and behaviors toward Merrick lead the readers to examine the moral aspect of humanity for the valuable people as well as persuade the readers not to be manipulated for entertainment.
On the other hand, Doctor Treves’s evolving relationship with Merrick becomes a testament to the capacity of the bright side of human nature in finding the truth, taking things seriously, and showing care to people who need help. Initially, Dr. Treves’ encounter with Merrick is rooted in scientific interests; however, through more interactions with Merrick, he presented the undeniable humanity and dignity toward Merrick.When Treves saw the sign about Merrick, the elephant man, he could not believe it! Treves would like to find out the truth out of scientific curiosity. Treves had a scientific spirit and wanted to find the truth of science. He gave the comments” The sign is absurd! Half-Elephant, Half-Man?” suggesting he did not believe there existed this kind of person in the world, according to his previous learning in the medical field. This scientific curiosity pushed Treves to meet Merrick. But such curiosity was based on finding nothing but truth, rather than having the thought of seeing a monster. Treves took his own time to have a thorough observation in examining Merrick's abnormal physical conditions and gave his medical thoughts of Merrick’s appearance with his students. Treves was holding very serious attitudes toward Merrick’s condition, viewing it as a science investigation rather than feeling Merrick is a disgusted person or thinking Merrick has a disease. When Treves was reading his medical report, he gave objective comments by using the medical language rather than using the tone of mocking to look at Merrick. Traves hoped to find the cure through the whole-body examination in order to ease the pain that Merrick had suffered. Through the interactions Treves had with Merrick, Treves, as a doctor, took good care of the patients. He showed his mercy to reveal the problem and find the solutions for this problem. He showed care for Merrick. He did not mock Merrick like Ross or the audience in the show. All he wanted to do is to help and care for Merrick. Dr. Treves’ actions and thoughts not only challenges the readers to consider not only the truth of the science but also encourages the readers to develop the capacity of caring for others.
Audience from the show and the audience from the Dr. Treves’ lecture acts as a reminder that the society could dehumanize people who do not fit the society under the social norms and standards. The author tries to use these two groups of audiences to make a call to the society that people should acknowledge the humanity in every individual, no matter what kind of physical appearance people are having. Audiences from the show were paying attention to Ross’s advertising about Merrick, the elephant. They were so curious that they were willing to spend two pennies to see how ugly the elephant was. It is human nature that people dislike ugly things. Would you rather have a worn-out, broken, and old dress or a beautiful, brand new, princess-like dress? Of course, I would definitely choose the latter one. It is very common and normal people prefer a good-looking person or thing over an ugly thing. But the point is to what degree a person really dislikes an ugly thing. When the degree of dislike ugliness becomes very high, then such dislikeness would turn into hatredness, which is the dark side of human nature. This is exactly the attitude of the audience from the show toward Merrick. The reason the audience wants to see Merrick lies in their curiosity toward the ugly things. Dr. Treves gave a lecture to his audience or his students while examining Merrick’s physical deformity. The audience showed empathy and sympathy toward Merrick’s condition. The audience were listening to Doctor Treves and learning about Merrick’s body figure. When they learned Merrick had to leave for his exhibition again, one of his students felt sorry for Merrick’s situation, saying “I do not think it ought to be permitted. It is a disgrace. Something ought to be done about it.” The audience from the lectures is very different from the audience from the show. The audience from the lecture cares for Merrick’s deformities. They wanted to make a change for Merrick. They think Merrick deserved humanity's dignity and should be treated like a human being. The audience’s varied reactions offer readers to negative the human nature of curiosity and urge the readers to wake up their empathy and sympathy toward people who are different then them.
In conclusion, “The Elephant Man” remains a powerful exploration of the dark side as well as the bright side of human nature in depth, through the views of Ross, Dr. Trevers, and the audiences. “The Elephant Man”, through Ross’s actions and thoughts, serves as a mean to lead us, the readers, to criticize the darker side of human nature: our capability of being cruel to people who are different than others, our ability of taking advantages of other’s weaknesses for personal gains or advancement, and our willingness to manipulate or to be manipulated by curiosity. Similarity, “The Elephant Man”, through Doctor Treves’ interactions with Merrick, acts as a means to invite us, the readers, to remain on the bright side of human nature: always looking for the truth of science rather than follow the trend, holding serious attitudes in doing work, and developing the empathy and understanding toward people who are vulnerable. Moreover, “The Elephant Man”, through reactions from the audiences in the show and the audiences in Dr. Treves’ lecture, offers a rich multifaceted exploration of human nature: being hatred toward the ugliness or showing empathy toward people who are different from us.
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