What Is The Loss Of Identity In The Elephant Man

“The Elephant Man” by Bernard Pomerance is an intriguing and thought-provoking play that features Dr. Frederick Treves, a widely renowned physician who one-day encounters Joseph Merrick, a man with severe deformities, at a freak show and becomes fascinated with his case. He takes Merrick under his care and tries his best to help him feel ‘normal’ so to speak, stating “I believe that a man’s destiny lies in his own hands… and in our own case, the power of choice is very great.”(6) Treves is shown to be extremely confident in his ability to improve Merrick’s life, and he sees himself as a sort of savior figure, freeing Merrick from a cruel life of exploitation. However, as the story progresses, Treves wonders whether his actions helped or hurt

Mrs.Kendal is a famous actress who meets Merrick through Treves and later befriends him. Mrs.Kendal ends up disobeying Treves’s orders, and when confronting him with his own prejudice and partiality, forces Treves to recollect and reassume all of his initial assumptions. “It is not his deformity that is grotesque; it is the way in which it has been exploited.”(38) In her own words, Mrs.Kendal is able to get through to Treves and explain to him how he and others have stripped Merrick of his own identity, reducing him to a mere freak show. Another character that helps Treves reach his final conclusion is Ross, Merrick’s former caretaker. Ross is driven solely by the desire for profit, and he has no qualms about putting Merrick on display in front of crowds of people. Unlike Treves, who is genuinely concerned about Merrick’s well-being, Ross sees him only as a means to an end. Merrick, however, is a kind-hearted man who struggles to find a sense of individuality. He’s spent his entire life ridiculed by society and has come to believe that his disabilities make him unworthy of any sense of normalcy. Merrick’s desperate desire for acceptance is what leads him to trust Treves. Treves comes to realize the difference between how both he and Ross treated Merrick but finally realizes the non-intentional, manipulative way he dragged Merrick over to his side. Although it was never his intention, he realizes that he used Merrick’s vulnerability to his advantage and, from a certain standpoint, is no better than Ross. As Treves interacts with both of these characters, he slowly comes to realize the idea of normalcy is arbitrary. “I thought I was helping him… but now I see that I was only helping myself.”(58) He comes to see that his sense of superiority and his assumption of what is “normal” has clouded his judgment of Merrick’s own sense of