Who is the Elephant Man?
Joseph Merrick, who came to be known as the Elephant Man, was a severely deformed Englishman who attracted a great deal of attention in the Victorian Era, when he was a bit of a celebrity. The Elephant Man became a popular figure of pity and interest after being visited by prominent members of British society, including the Queen, and he was the subject of numerous pamphlets, books, and films. Thanks to his fame, Joseph Merrick’s legacy endures in popular culture, with references to him sometimes popping up in historical novels and films set during his lifetime. The Elephant Man was born in 1862 as a perfectly ordinary boy. However, at age three, he started to develop strange lumps and spots all over his body, and over time, his body gradually became severely deformed with overgrowths of bone, skin, and large tumors. Joseph Merrick was shunned by people in his community as a hideous monster, and he eventually struck out on his own, attempting to support himself by working as a sideshow
The recent, sudden death of Anna Nicole Smith shocked everyone, and has kept Hollywood gossip hot for weeks. However, as we approach the beginning of April, we need to take a look back. We need to look back on the life of a man who was treated like an object, exploited for the entertainment of an abusive, jeering public. His name was Joseph Carey Merrick, and I would like to share a few details of his tortured existence. On August 5, 1862, a bouncing baby boy was born to Joseph and Mary Jane Merrick, and he was raised at various dwellings throughout Leicester, England. As a working class family, they were far from wealthy, a situation exacerbated by an absentee father. By the age of two, Joseph began exhibiting signs of a troubling disease. His sister died of bronchopneumonia when he was eleven, and went to live with his father and stepmother later that year, after the death of his mother. By now Joseph is more than just a troubled lad who had lost half his family to illness and diseas
