Elephant Man\'s Search for Dignity

¶ … ELEPHANT MAN'S SEARCH FOR DIGNITY AND SELF-ESTEEM

During the course of the movie, The Elephant Man, the principal character, John Merrick undergoes a tremendous change in his sense of self-esteem and dignity as a person. Underneath his physical deformity, Merrick is actually a person of normal, even superior intelligence. However, because human self-esteem is so greatly dependent on the manner in which other people respond to the individual, Merrick lives most of his life believing that he is the "animal" that everybody else seems to believe that he is. Speaking late in the film about his mother, Merrick says "I must have been a great disappointment to her." However, by the end of his short and tragic life, Merrick finally receives the recognition from others that he is an intelligent and sensitive person and he dies knowing, at least, that he is a good person who deserved much better in life than the unfortunate lot that he received because of his deformity.

Born horribly disfigured, Merrick is first exploited as a circus freak and abused by others who use his physical appearance as an excuse to treat him in ways that (presumably) they would never treat another human being. To the rest of the world, Merrick is an object of horror that inspires fear in addition to obscuring any appreciation that he is a sensitive and feeling human being underneath his physical deformity. Merrick is eventually rescued from his life as a circus freak but instead of being afforded greater human dignity and treated with respect as a person, he becomes a medical or scientific curiosity, studied by physicians who are fascinated by his condition. On one hand, they do not abuse him and they provide a safe place for him to live in a hospital setting; on the other hand, Merrick is still unable to develop self-esteem or experience dignity as a person because the very people who rescued him from his abusive prior existence patronize him and fail to recognize that he is as much of a person as they are and not just a laboratory curiosity.

Only toward the end of Merrick's life do Merrick's rescuers come to recognize that he is of normal or even superior intelligence after overhearing him reciting the 23rd Psalm. Prior to that, Merrick had not revealed that he could understand complex thought or even speak. It is likely that his utter lack of self-esteem held him back from trying to communicate with others because he assumed that nobody cared what he had to say anyway. Merrick's rescuers eventually do come to recognize that he is intelligent and articulate and they begin to treat him in a manner that is more appropriate and conducive to the development of self-esteem. In fact, Merrick becomes something of a celebrity in London society and comes to enjoy the company and appreciation of others.

After having experienced the dignity that he (and all human beings) deserved, Merrick is once again returned to his former life as a circus freak when he is kidnapped by Bytes, his former oppressor. He manages to escape and before he makes it back to the London hospital, he is accosted and attacked by a mob of thugs on a London street. Whereas Merrick had previously never fought back against abuse, this time, he responds by screaming, "I am not an animal? I am a human being!" This reflects Merrick's changed self-perception that he deserves better treatment from others.