The Elephant Man as cultural mirror: hip hop, religion, and gender

¶ … Elephant Man

Joseph Merrick, popularly known as The Elephant Man, was a young man who suffered from a bone disease known as neurofibromatosis Type 1. This disease caused his bones to grow abnormally and resulted in extreme deformities in Merrick's body. The events of his life have been popularized most notably by a play and a film. For the purpose of this literary analysis, the play will be considered from three viewpoints: hip hop, religious leadership, and gender.

Viewpoint 1: Hip Hop

From a cultural viewpoint, Merrick's journey throughout the play can be viewed as parallel to that of the hip hop artist. The play begins with Merrick being an outcast from society because o the way he looks. He is the source of horror, used by exploiters such as Ross for financial gain. So extreme is the horror that society experiences at his looks, that people are willing to pay for the thrill of it. Dr. Treves rescues Merrick from Ross, and the Elephant Man's situation changes dramatically. He becomes popular: the darling of royalty, leaders, and general high society.

This can be compared to the hip hop artist initially being seen as social outcast. This is the result rather of social class than of physical appearance on its own, although racism and social expectation might play a significant role as well. Because of his or her social origins, the hip hop artist is generally expected to commit crime or at the very least to be from the lower classes of society. Like the Elephant Man's appearance, the artist's saving grace is focused on an inner talent and an ability to provide society with a mirror of itself. Treves in the play can then be compared to an agent that provides the artist with the opportunity to become rich and famous through his or her talent.

Merrick's talent is his grotesque appearance. From his lowly beginnings as Ross's showpiece, he rises to become a more sophisticated version of the freak show under Treves's hand. Treves gives public lectures in which he Merrick is then displayed as an example of the disease under discussion. As such, the Elephant Man then becomes a horror show for the rich and famous. Throughout the play, however, he never ceases to be a mirror of society, demonstrating to people both the best and the worst in themselves. It is the mission of the hip hop artist to do the same - by listening to the music, the audience is to understand both the best and the worst in itself.

Gender Relations

In "The Elephant Man," Merrick experiences a terrible dichotomy in terms of gender relations. His body is grotesquely malformed, which makes him completely revolting to women. This is demonstrated time and again when women see him for the first time. A nurse who professes being used to terrible physical injuries and deformities, runs screaming when she sees Merrick bathe. Mrs. Kendal, an actress hired to meet Merrick, struggles to hide her revulsion when seeing him for the first time. However, when she speaks to him, his inner nature overrides the exterior and Mrs. Kendal begins to enjoy his company.

For Merrick, his relationship with Mrs. Kendal is problematic, as his sexual organs are normal, but the rest of his physique precludes making love to a woman. The growth of his emotional connection with Mrs. Kendal however culminates in her disrobing in front of him. Any possible further intimacy is terminated when Treves enters and orders her to leave. Merrick does not see Mrs. Kendal again, and is subject to the cruelty of memory and sight without being allowed to touch. Until the end of his short life, Merrick is therefore deprived not only of a normal physique, but also of normal sexual function, which he craves most. Ironically, it is this drive towards the normal that ultimately proves fatal.