“There were
many moments during the writing of this book when I thought that elephants may
be even more evolved than humans—when I studied their grieving habits, and
their mothering skills, and their memories. If you take away anything from this
novel, I hope it is an awareness of the cognitive and emotional intelligence of
these beautiful animals—and the understanding that it is up to us to protect
them.”-Jodi Picoult
Out of the four books I’ve read by Jodi Picoult, Leaving Time is my favorite. If you love a good mystery and are eager to explore the emotional and cognitive intelligence of elephants and understand the unique individuals they are, you will appreciate this novel.
Leaving Time is the most suspenseful
book I’ve read this year. Connecting with the realities of the elephants is a
compelling aspect of the book, and I have to admit that the immoral choices of
many of the human characters make the read somewhat annoying.
It is impossible to imagine the ending of the
story. There is no way to guess, but I embrace the layer of mysticism it
presents. It is hard not to shed a few tears at the end. I think it is a bit
odd that the readers are not warned about the fact that this novel has a touch of magical realism.
Leaving Time is about the timelessness
of love between a mother and her child. It makes you reflect on the precious
bond that transcends time and space and how that love connects to our present.
It made me think of the moments in which I dreamed of a loved one who had
passed away. Yet the energy that connects me to that person lives on in
thoughts and actions of strength and hope in ways that escape the realm of
words.
There is something I did not like. The
perpetrators of the two acts of violence made me uncomfortable because I did
not find them credible. Yet I know it can happen in extremely rare cases… The
revelation was to me the monster of social misogyny poking its ugly head into the
reader’s mind and a product of the author’s unconscious bias... I will not elaborate further
on this. (Jodi, will you ever give mothers a break?).
Alice Metcalf is Jenna's mother. She is an elephant researcher who left behind a journal with several entries about her personal life and her observations of elephants. Jenna wonders why Alice left her behind. Is Alice dead or alive?
“When I was
in Pilanesburg, I watched an elephant come across a rhino calf that was stuck
in the mud of a watering hole. The rhinos were distressed, and that in turn
upset the elephant, which stood around trumpeting and rumbling. Somehow, she
managed to convince the rhinos that she had practice doing this, and to just
get out of the way and let her take over. Now, in the great ecological sphere
of things, it was not beneficial to the elephant to rescue a rhino baby. And
yet she went in and lifted the baby with her trunk, even though the rhino
mother charged her each time she tried. She risked her own life for the
offspring of another species. Likewise, in Botswana, I saw a matriarch come
upon a lioness that was stretched out beside an elephant path while her cubs
played in the middle of it. Normally, if an elephant sees a lion it will
charge—it recognizes the animal as a threat. But this matriarch waited very
patiently for the lioness to collect her cubs and move away. True, the cubs
were no threat to the elephant, but one day they would be. Right then, however,
they were just someone’s babies.”
Leaving
Time is a riveting
read with intriguing characters. My favorite human character is Serenity, a
“psychic” who befriends Jenna, a thirteen-year-old teenager in her quest to
find her mother, who disappeared ten years ago. Then there is Virgil, an
alcoholic retired detective who is determined to help Jenna find her mother. The
trio captivated me from the beginning… and I liked the elephants.
The story of these humans is fiction but the ones about the elephants are as real as their plight. There are many forces decimating the population of these
compassionate, intelligent beings. Elephants die in the hands of poachers.
There is a criminal network responsible for poaching African elephants to
benefit from the trade of ivory. The network smuggles ivory from Africa to China. A wealthy middle class in China fuels the demand for ivory products.
Corruption in Africa is part of the puzzle that enables the slaughter and
trafficking of ivory. Trafficking of ivory is also used to fund terrorism.
Before the publication of Jodi Picoult’s book forty-one elephants were killed in Zimbabwe because their water hole was poisoned with cyanide. The purpose was to obtain ivory to profit from it, so don’t purchase ivory or anything made of ivory.
The illegal trafficking of ivory is still happening.
This report was published last week by Homeland Security Investigations.
The slaughter and abduction of elephants lead to trauma, disruption of complex relationships and aggressive elephant behavior in the wild. Elephants are captured for elephant-back safaris, zoos and circuses, where they endure brutal, cruel treatment and endless suffering. In circuses elephants are forced to perform tricks through deprivation of food, water and rest, and by physical restraint, pain and fear. Max Brandett, a former circus worker reveals the details of the horrifying treatment of animals in circuses, so I encourage you to read his report. The elephants are even chained in cages. You can read it from the link I offer. I will not share the information here because it is traumatizing to even write about it.
It is disgusting to learn how cruel humans are
to these amazing animals. Please, avoid supporting circuses and do everything
you can to help stop this cruelty from taking place by educating others on the issue.
Avoid paying for elephant-back safaris and make sure that zoos provide the
right conditions for elephants and that they don’t capture any more elephants
from the wild. In captivity elephants live a life of misery.
Last but not least, climate change is affecting the survival of elephants in multiple ways. For example, climate change causes prolonged droughts in the African savanna. Also, older elephants are more prone to die as a result of extreme high temperatures, and the loss of the older elephants has a serious impact on the survival of the herds. Supporting regulations that address climate change is also necessary for human survival… and how can anybody oppose regulations that protect the quality of water and air? Let’s make it clear and concise: the regulations that help curb climate change also protect the quality of air and water, so what is not to like about that?
Climate change also leads to water and food shortage, and the situation worsens the conflicts between humans and elephants and creates tensions that make humanity more prone to start wars and new conflicts. Peaceful coexistence requires a kind of holistic approach to the crisis.
There are various organizations working to give
assistance to elephants. The elephant sanctuary in Tennessee, which inspired
some of Jodi Picoult’s writing, has been helping rescued elephants by providing
them with individualized care, the companionship of a herd, and a setting that
supports their health and wellbeing. The organization also supports elephants
by educating the public. You can also visit the Global Sanctuary for Elephants
website. This organization helps to establish elephant sanctuaries worldwide:
You can
learn more about elephants in the wild and the dangers they face by visiting
the following sites:
https://www.ifaw.org/journal/what-is-ivory
I wrote
about The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony a while ago. If you
haven’t read it yet, feel free to check my post.
The photos of elephants are from unsplash.com: the second photo is by Mylon Ollila; the first photo is by Mathew Spiteri .