English 115 Letter to Friend or Family Member

Dear Harriet,
    In my English 115 class, we have been reading and analyzing Bernard Pomerance’s play, The Elephant Man. The play is about John Merrick, a physically disabled man who is exploited as a sideshow attraction in Victorian London before being rescued by Dr. Frederick Treves, a compassionate young doctor at the London Hospital. Dr. Treves wants to observe John Merrick, who is also known as the elephant man, for research purposes. John Merrick is allowed to live at the London Hospital, where he becomes a celebrity who is admired by the wealthy and powerful. Also, the hospital uses John Merrick to raise money until his sudden death from asphyxiation. In the play, there are several themes that remind me of life today, such as the treatment of the disabled.
    From the beginning of time until the twentieth century, the disabled have largely been viewed as objects of entertainment or pity and unable to live a “normal” life. In the past few decades, the status of disabled people has risen tremendously, and several disabled people have become world renowned for their contributions to society. One person who has been able to overcome her disability in order to become renowned is Temple Grandin. Temple Grandin is autistic and has used her experience with autism to become an autism advocate, animal scientist, and animal rights advocate. Another prominent individual who is disabled is Stephen Hawking. Hawking, a theoretical physicist, has a disorder that is similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which requires him to use a wheelchair and talk through a synthesizer. Today, many people believe that disabled people are capable of accomplishing whatever they set their mind to and that their life should not be limited by their disability. Another theme in the play that relates to modern life is racism and nationalism.
    In The Elephant Man, racism and nationalism is quite common in the earlier scenes. In the Victorian era, the United Kingdom and other European countries were aggressively colonizing new territories in Africa and Asia. The British and other countries believed that it was ‘God’s will’ to colonize and ‘civilize’ Africa and Asia with Christianity, Western culture, and modern medicine. African and Asian colonies were also exploitable, due to the widespread availability of natural resources that could not be found in Europe. At this time, a commonly used British phrase was, “The sun never sets on the British Empire,” which was based on the fact that the United Kingdom had colonies across the world. This phrase was revised by opponents of racism and colonialism to state that, “The sun never sets on the greed, cruelty, and bigotry of the British Empire.” Since the 1950s, the former colonies of the United Kingdom and other countries have become independent nations, while racism is widely viewed as hateful and unacceptable in today’s multicultural world.
    In conclusion, I highly encourage you to read The Elephant Man, since I think that you will enjoy it.

Love,
Joshua