P.T. Barnum's Cruelty within the Circus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

P.T. Barnum's Cruelty within the Circus - Essay Example From time to time, he was indicted of being misleading and encouraging bogus publicity. He just modified the truth and made it appear more attractive. He was aware of what America required and he delivered exactly the same. This paper sheds light on animal abuse and violence in circus, with special reference to P. T. Barnum’s circus and its cruel behavior with elephants, particularly ‘Jumbo’ - a big, 13000-pound African Elephant. Jumbo was a huge ‘sensation’ in the London Zoo. During the period of 16 years he gave rides to thousands of kids on his back and pleased people with his naughty, humorous nature. However, surreptitiously the enormous creature - Jumbo - terrified zoo representatives with bad temper - and it appeared that just the similarly disobedient Scott could handle him. Therefore, the London Zoo management sold Jumbo and shipped him - along with Scott - to P.T. Barnum for his well-known circus. One may have doubted how the Barnum circus m akes a 13000-pound Jumbo to carry out tricks such as â€Å"sitting up or standing on his or her head† (Coup, p. 22). It is by means of ruthless behavior of trainers. The well-known circus shatters the strength of elephants when they are defenseless kids who should be staying with their mothers. They had a life of slavery from the second they came into this world: all innate movements, all senses and way of being is shattered, by means of bull hooks, ropes as well as electric shock. In the year 1885, during the tour of Canada, Jumbo was hit by a cargo train and killed on the spot. Barnum's subsequent test was to modify public feelings with reference to the theater. Generally considered as ‘places of wickedness’, Barnum desired to place them as fortresses of learning as well as amusement, and as ‘highly regarded’ middle-class hobby. He constructed the city's biggest as well as most ‘up to date’ theater, which was named as â€Å"Moral Lect ure Room† (Hartzman, p. 111). Circus Cruelty During the year 1882, P.T. Barnum gave 10,000 USD to buy Jumbo, the most renowned elephant around the world, chained up like ‘Houdini’, â€Å"stuffed into a crate and sailed across the ocean to New York City† (Bartholomew, p. 89). Barnum purchased Jumbo inexpensively because - not known to him but known to Zoo keepers in London - â€Å"the elephant had gone bonkers† (Bartholomew, p. 89). Jumbo had turn out to be such a danger that his possessors were afraid for the protection of a number of kids riding on his back. One of these rides had an asthmatic Teddy Roosevelt, who, possibly shocked by the incident, would later attacked and killed four elephants in less than five minutes while on safari in British East Africa (Bartholomew, p. 96). Jumbo was so devastated by his journey through ocean, detained within his barred enclosure, which his trainer had to get him intoxicated. In view of the fact that alcoholic drinks were previously a part his standard food, making the elephant to gulp down a few buckets of whiskey was not a difficult task. Following three years Barnum got his reward elephant, Jumbo â€Å"met his end† (Bartholomew, p. 96) during a direct collision with an ‘off-schedule locomotive’. The calamity took place as the animals were entering into the boxcars to go to the next town. A roaming circus is simply a headache and nothing else, particularly when one is using inflexible, unpredictable creatures like lions as well as