The Elephant Man's hospitalisation sprang from a benevolent desire to help this "poor fellow". But, for Merrick, it may have been little different from entering the workhouse. As a permanent resident, supported entirely by charitable donations, he was rendered a dependent member of "the deserving poor". Norman argued that Merrick's "only wish was to be free and independent". This could not happen while he remained an inmate of the hospital where, his former manager argued, he must have felt as if "he were a prisoner and living on charity". Treves maintained that Merrick was "happy every hour of the day". But Norman's son unearthed the testimony of a hospital porter who claimed that Merrick asked more than once: "Why can't I go back to Mr Norman?"