The Power of Faith
The overarching theme of this book is the power of faith. The message that is consistently and persistently presented is that if one believes that something can happen, never gives up hope, and—importantly—remains committed to trying to make it happen, then it will. Peter never gives up faith that his sister Adele is still alive despite being told she has died. Adele fervently believes that her absurd dream of an elephant coming to rescue her from the orphanage will prove true. Leo never gives up on his dream of having children with Gloria despite being told that this is medically impossible. Having faith that the impossible can become possible is the thematic foundation upon which the narrative is constructed.
Keeping Promises
Peter is also driven in large part by his commitment to maintaining the promise he made to his mother. He had promised her that he would always take care of his younger sister. Driven by guilt at not living up to this promise, he remains committed to finding Adele and making good on that vow. He also makes a promise to the elephant but in a way, this promise is even worse than the one made to his mother because he does not know exactly what he pledged to do for the animal. Neither the elephant nor Peter is capable of communicating verbally with the other, but an almost psychic connection is made when the elephant stares at Peter and he realizes that some kind of unspoken agreement has passed between them. By contrast, Vilna Lutz, the soldier friend of Peter's dead father, promises to take care of Peter and breaks a kind of promised assurance to him that he knows for sure Adele is dead when she is not just alive but close by.
Appearances
In the second paragraph of the story, the red tent of a fortuneteller seems to suddenly appear without warning. A star that sometimes appears to the magician and sometimes does not appear turns out to be the planet Venus and not a star at all. A bouquet that is suddenly supposed to appear as the result of the magician's trick becomes instead an elephant crashing through the roof of the opera house that lands on a noblewoman and crushes her legs. Likewise, what appears to be the truth to Peter about his sister that his guardian has promised is true and turns out to be a lie. Throughout the book, appearances are sometimes deceiving and sometimes not. Often, those things that appear to be the most unlikely turn out to be factual while those that appear to be factual are revealed as false. The pursuit of this theme in the book is thus more complicated than merely suggesting that appearances are deceiving. The story more strongly suggests that appearances should not always be pre-judged based on expectations.
