Author's Note:
There have been many sad stories of people with disabilities but the one story of Joseph Merrick is the worst of them all. Joseph Merrick was a Man with severe deformities; he was exhibited as a human curiosity.
In the first few years of his life he seemed to appear normal and healthy. A pamphlet stated that the symptoms started at the age of 5 with thick and lumpy skin like an elephant, an almost the same color. In a 1930’s article stated that the swelling of his lips started at the age of 21 months followed with a bony lump on his forehead and roughening of skin. As he grew older there was a noticeable difference between his left and right arms and very large feet. The Merricks family explained Joseph’ symptoms as a result of his mother being knocked down by a fairground elephant while she was pregnant with Joseph. The concept of maternal impression that the emotional experiences of a pregnant woman could have lasted physical effect on their unborn children, which was still common in 19th century England. Joseph held that belief of his cause of affliction for his entire life.
But beside all of his deformities he still attended school and had a close relationship with his mother. On May 19th 1873 after 3 years of her younger son William, Mary Jane Merrick died from bronchopneumonia. Joseph Rockley Merrick soon remarried on December 3 1874. She was a widow with children of her own.
Joseph left school at aged 12 which was usual for the time; his home life was a perfect misery. He ran away two or three times but his father brought him back each time. At age13 he found a job rolling cigars in a factory, but after three years his right hand deformity got worsened so he was enable work. So now he was unemployed and wondering the streets all day looking for and trying to get away from his stepmothers taunts. I think his stepmother was just as a problem as everyone else was but I do think his torture was just getting worse. On returning home one day he was severely beaten by his father and left home for good. And the sad thing was he got beaten for doing nothing it was just because his stepmother said something about Joseph that he did to his stepmother which was a lie and his father believed her at least there was some goodness in his life. Joseph’s uncle heard about his rough situation, sought him out and offered him accommodation in his home. After two years Joseph’s uncle could not afford to support his nephew. In late December 1879 he was now 17 years old, Joseph entered the Leicester’s Union Workhouse. He had split up into a group with the men of ages between 16 and 66. Some people would be bothered by his appearance so a lot of people quit. In 1882 Joseph tried to get surgery on his face but an enlargement on his lips during the surgery and effected his speech and sometimes hard to chew his food. Years went by of teasing and taunting for Joseph Merrick but he still made a couple of friends but still life was always hard for him. On April 11 1890 at three o’ clock in the afternoon Joseph Carey Merrick was announced dead, he was only 27 years old. The cause of his death was suicide the theory is he wanted to know it felt like to lay on his back like a normal person. This is a man who was bullied, teased and taunted although he lived it over and over again he still didn’t have to die just so people can stop talking about him. But the cause of his disease remains unknown to this day.
