The Life She Was Given

Animals are symbols of Julia’s and Lilly’s experiences and innermost feelings. Wiseman juxtaposes the treatment of circus animals to draw comparisons between the treatment of people with differences and disabilities; in the 1930s, both were often seen as lesser.

As Lilly empathizes with the elephants during her first time being with them up close, her intense connection to these large mammals makes her project into their minds: Was it “possible that this powerful animal cared about people, even after everything they had done to it, even after they had caged it, tied it in ropes and chains, and forced it to perform?” (133). Like the elephant, Lilly knows the feeling of being locked away and controlled by others. She sees the fear, love, and connection in their eyes and relates to it in her own life. As we learn later, the bond really does go both ways, as Lilly is preternaturally skilled at working with the elephants, which makes her act with them unique.

At Blackwood Manor Horse Farm, Julia is devastated to learn that mares and foals are separated days after birth, immediately relating to the pain of maternal abandonment and terror. Her empathy results in a physical response: “She could almost feel the horrible, heavy pain in their chests, the terror and helplessness in their minds. It didn’t matter that they were animals. Mares still possessed the maternal instinct” (213). Julia longs for such a connection in her own life, so the relationship between mare and foal and Julia’s desire to keep them together resembles her own desire to be close to her mother—though she only gets a chance to do so through memories and detective work.