But blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew
I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole
Or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul;
The mind's the standard of the man."
A poem often read by Joseph.
Most of us have heard of, read about or even seen the film "The Elephant Man," a sad portrayal of a deformed man's anguish. To even try to comprehend this intelligent, sensitive man's suffering has to be beyond most of our capabilities.
Joseph Merrick, or John* as he became known in the movie, was born at 50 Lee Street, Leicester on August 5th 1862 to Mary Jane and Joseph Merrick. Born into an age of ignorance, John lived with his Mother, younger brother Arthur, and sister Marion, until John's Mother died in 1873, leaving John with an uncaring Father who didn't really want him around.
To make matters even worse for John, his Father remarried a woman who saw John as nothing but an embarrassment and who eventually offered the ultimatum of "It's either him or me." John was forced to work selling shoe-black on the streets, a chore that left him an open target to scores of children who taunted him for amusement.
On December 29th 1879, John Merrick was admitted to the Leicester Workhouse which he left after 6 weeks only to return a few days later because he was destitute. For the most part, John was unemployable, but he was prepared to do anything to earn money. Having pride that far outweighed his deformity, John could write and speak eloquently and he could also read, a rarity amongst the poorer classes of the 19th century.
John was also noted for his wonderful imagination and despite his dignified attitude, he was often charmingly childlike. With his manners equal to, and often better than most English gentlemen, his deformity resolved to keep all social and employment doors closed to him.
Desperate to take any job that would earn him a living, John Merrick left the workhouse in 1884 and took a job as a side-show freak. His manager, who was actually depicted in the movie as having kidnapped and beaten him, was not the barbarian he was portrayed as. Instead, Tom Norman took Merrick under his wing and treated him with great care and respect.
Having done rather well with Norman, John moved to London and found himself a home, a home in Bedstead Square, London. Merrick caught the interest of Frederick Treves, a surgeon at Whitechapel Hospital. Treves visited John in November 1884 and expressed a scientific interest in him. This led to Treves presenting Merrick to two different medical societies before sending John back on his way.
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