The one and only Ivan

        In the book, The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate uses a gorilla as a vehicle to explore many different themes, such as freedom, animal rights, and the need for social contact between people. It does not have to be friendship or relationship, but some kind of connection so that people do not feel alone. All the characters in the book are looking for that social connection, from the main character Ivan, to his homeless dog friend Bob, to his mean owner Mack, and even the faceless customers who come to see the attractions. This kind of abstract theme is hard to get across, especially to children who do not have as much experience in dealing with complex emotions and different kinds of social contact. However, Katherine Applegate is able to convey the loneliness that is felt when there is no social contact, and the joy that comes when there is. She does this through her description of the setting, her characterization, and the way the conflicts arise and are dealt with in the plot. By the time Ivan reaches his happy ending, Applegate has taken the reader through a fun, emotional experience.

Set in a mall off the highway, Ivan the gorilla and Stella the elephant spend their days being stared at and forced to do tricks for people. Ivan calls it his “domain” but in reality it is just a cage. The setting is very important for the story. Even though Ivan does not admit it in the beginning, his cage is pretty depressing. He is stuck in a mall beside a highway with no nature around him at all. This sets up a contrast between his life in Africa which he calls a “perfect life” (Applegate, 127) and his life later in the zoo, which is full of nature, or at least an imitation of it (Applegate, 289). Settings can be used to illuminate character (Horning, 158), and in this case, the mall helps to show Ivan’s transition from being a gorilla content with his life to aggressively wanting to get out.

        The characterization of Ivan is very detailed. He is a gorilla and the book never lets him know information that a human would know. For example, when Mack’s wife leaves him, Ivan admits he does not know what really happened, because he never knew about divorce or marital problems (Applegate, 141). This keeps him as a believable character. He is aware of himself as a gorilla and does not try to be human, “He describes their behavior as frantic, whereas he is a peaceful artist” (Kirkus Reviews, 2011). Even though the book is all from Ivan’s point of view and is narrated by him, the book is really about human behavior and human emotions. The bad guy in the book is Mack, who is many things to Ivan. He is like a father figure, owner, and oppressor all at the same time. He feels love for Ivan but he is an alcoholic and lonely so it is easy to feel sympathy for him, but his actions show his true nature. “Actions are also visible only on the surface but they provide more insight into the character because they spring from internal thoughts and motives” (Horning, 154). Mack’s actions are cold - like when he lets Stella die - and violent – like when he beats Ruby with a claw stick. In contrast, Julia’s actions show her to be a warm person. She is not just friendly to the animals, she actually cares about them, and she shows it in her actions, by helping them get out of the mall.