49 pages • 1 hour read
Katherine ApplegateThe One and Only Bob
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
The Blanket
Bob’s beloved “wonderfully mushy” blanket symbolizes Bob’s very coddled and comfortable life. In contrast to Boss’s life as a stray, Bob gets private walks, treats, belly rubs, and ear scratches.
The “beds” that the dogs are given more broadly symbolize the level of comfort, safety, and security of each dog through their very different lives: In contrast to Bob’s soft and comfortable blanket, Boss is grateful for the towel in the cage at the shelter. Bob notices this disparity and is ashamed of his privileged comforts as he feels undeserving of them. He resolves this guilt when Boss accepts his comes to live with him and when he provides the same happy home for Boss’s son Rowdy.
The Shelter
Bob cringes as he walks past the shelter and hears the desperate barks within. These dogs signify to Bob all the dogs who live without a loving, safe home. In particular, it reminds him of dogs from his past: Boss, his long-lost sister, and the neglected Droolius, who doted on an abusive and indifferent owner. The shelter makes Bob reflect on the fact that he has a home, but “the gang in there doesn’t” (76). It also reminds Bob of his own time as a stray.
During the storm, Bob, Ivan, and Ruby save all the animals from the rising water in the shelter, and it is revealed later that all those animals found homes. Bob’s intervention makes this happy ending possible, and the animals’ adoption by many kind individuals helps Bob to realize that not all humans are cruel and indifferent.
Cars
Cars are recurring motifs that illustrate humans’ dual helpfulness and harmfulness. Bob’s first experience with a car is highly traumatic and colors the way he sees these human contraptions. His first owner took him and his litter to a dark stretch of highway and threw them from the car window. This likely resulted in the death of some of Bob’s siblings, and in Bob and Boss living as strays. Later, when Bob lives with Julia, he refuses to enter the car, even when tempted with treats. He plays this off as part of his rebellious bravado, but it is clear to the reader that his experience as a puppy created a traumatic association with cars in Bob’s mind.
While cars initially signify stress and abandonment, they eventually signify a safe haven, when Bob and Rowdy are rescued after the storm. Bob conquers his fear of cars when his family arrives, and in a broader sense, he conquers his fears of abandonment. This shows that Boss’s advice—to be forgiving and to trust humans—impacts Bob.
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