The Elephant in the Boardroom

Chapter 4SPOTTING ELEPHANTS

In the story “Jumbo,” the main character Pop is the owner of The Wonder Circus. The circus’s feature attraction and recipient of Pop’s unfaltering affection is Jumbo the elephant. Pop is a great entertainer, brilliant circus marvel, and excellent salesman. He is also a poor businessman. More unfortunately, he is a gambler. After a series of losses from playing craps, and burdened with a pile of IOUs, he is eventually served papers by the local sheriff and loses his circus to a scheming creditor, a much more successful competitor whose only interest is gaining ownership of Pop’s circus. Similar to the stories of many ...