What are the motifs in Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen?

Love and morality are recurring ideas in the narrative. Jacob begins his adventure because his parents, whom he loved dearly, are killed in a car accident. Jacob's entire future is thrown into doubt when this takes place, since he had intended to join his father's veterinarian practice upon graduation. Jacob loses the desire to finish his degree, so he takes a walk that leads him to a circus train. Jacob joins the circus and finds himself too busy to reflect on his parents. Then Jacob meets Marlena, the beautiful woman who reminds Jacob of his first love, a girl from Cornell. Marlena is married to the man who is Jacob's boss in the circus, but Jacob quickly discovers the marriage is rocky.