Sara Gruen uses a tactic is her novel that requires two narrators. One narrator is Jacob when he is old and one is the younger version of Jacob. However, the main narrator is the old Jacob because he is having flashbacks to when he was younger. The older Jacob is in the nursing home, approaching death. While in the nursing home, there are specific details that remind Jacob of his past. For instance, Jacob’s favorite nurse’s name is Rosemary and when he was younger he had a strong connection with Rosie, the elephant, also the circus comes to town reminding him of his past experiences on the circus. Therefore, when he falls asleep or day dreams the narrator transforms to the younger version of himself, telling the story of his life. Jacob reveals that the things that remind him of his past are taking over him and causing him to have flashbacks when he was in the nursing home, about to doze off, “All I can do is put in time waiting for the inevitable, observing the ghosts of my past rattle around my vacuous present” …show more content…
Not only do the flashbacks reveal information about Jacob’s past but the more flashbacks that Jacob is experiencing resembles the closer to death that Jacob is, until his journey to the circus resembles his final journey to heaven as