The elephant man has a terrible deformity that caused him to be an outcast in society. He is a man who lookes horrible on the outside but is a caring, compassionant and intellegent person on the inside. The average person can relate to the elephant man because everyone has some sensitivity to their self image.
We all struggle with feeling like we need to fit in and sometimes our self image is very negative. Even when the Elephant Man gained respect for people in society he could never overcome the feeling of loneliness and isolation. Everytime he started to feel good about himself someone would runn in terror from the sight of him.
The play starts out with Merrick (the Elephant Man) in a freak show where he is discovered by a doctor who wants to study his deformity. It is first thought by the doctor that Merrick is retarded. After being in his company for a while the doctor discovers his warmth and intellegence and quickly forms a bond with him. His concern is so great that he wants to help him. The doctor persuades the hospital to let him stay there for life. At this point Merrick begins to believe that maybe he will be liked for who he is not what he looks like. This is a feeling alot of people have; that they just want to be liked for who they are.
Throughout the play Merrick has a seesaw existence where he has friends one minute and the next they become enemies. He feels that he has been exploited all his life and in the end does not want to live like he has anymore. So he decides to end it by committing suicide. If only people would judge others by what is inside instead of what is outside it would be an almost perfect world. Unfortunately the world will never be perfect.
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