Metzger is a Ph.D., specializing in literature and drama at The University of New Mexico. In this essay, she explores Merrick's humanity in The Elephant Man.

John Merrick lived his last four years in the hospital, a man ennobled by his suffering never bitter, always forgiving. His was a humanity that transcends that of normal society; yet, it is normal society that Merrick aspired to join.

In Bernard Pomerance' s The Elephant Man, the protagonist, Merrick, forces his audience to reconsider its definitions and expectations of what is considered normal. As Martin Gottfried observed in his review of the play,' Treves is trying to 'normalize' Merrick by making him like himself."

Yet Treves focuses only on the deformity, and he is unable to see that underneath the growths and protrusions there exists a real human being with desires and needs similar to his own. In...