The One And Only Ivan

Ivan spends his nights making painting after painting, each one a piece in “a giant puzzle” (175). He hides them all under his pool, away from Mack’s eyes—these paintings are for Ruby.

Ruby asks Ivan why he’s so tired, and he says he’s been working on a painting, but she can’t see it yet. Ruby asks if she has to perform with Mack, and Ivan tells her he’s “sorry,” but he’s “afraid so” (177).

Ivan keeps working on his painting project, but it’s “not right” (178) and he’s not sure why. He thinks if he could just “use human words,” then “this would all be so easy” (179)—but all he has is paint and paper, so he keeps trying.

Ruby isn’t drawing enough business to the mall, so Mack is restricting the animals’ food and keeping the heat off at night to save money. Ivan worries about how thin Ruby looks, while Bob is annoyed with Ivan painting all night—it means Bob can’t sleep on Ivan’s stomach. Bob asks him to explain his plan, but Ivan can’t and says, “It’s a stupid idea” (181), maintaining that he’s almost run out of paint. Bob, however, assures him his idea can’t be stupid.

Mack notices one of Ivan’s paintings and says if it sells quickly, he’ll buy Ivan more finger paint. He also turns on Ivan’s TV, which is showing a Western with a sheriff who wears a “shiny star” and vanquishes “all the bad guys” (183). As Mack leaves, Ivan wonders “what it would feel like to be the sheriff” (182).

After the Western movie, an ad comes on TV, depicting an elephant family in a natural habitat, with families buying tickets to see the animals. Ivan knows the ad is for “a wild cage. A zoo”—not a “perfect place” (186), but a place where Ruby could lead a better life. Ivan realizes this zoo is “the picture I need to paint” (187).

Ivan is now attempting a “different” kind of painting: Instead of depicting what he sees around him, he’s “painting what I see in my head”—subjects that don’t yet “exist” (188).

Ivan pulls the stuffing from his Not-Tag doll and hides his new paintings inside it.

Mack was able to sell Ivan’s finger painting for forty dollars, so he brings Ivan more paint and paper. Now Ivan spends his days making art for Mack, and his nights painting for Ruby—but “something is still missing” (191) from his nighttime project. Ivan resolves to wait until the missing pieces “come to” him, and then he’ll be sure the painting is “ready” (192).

In the seven o’clock performance, tired Ruby trips, and Mack grabs the claw-stick—but Ruby doesn’t protest at all and just keeps performing.

Julia is doing her homework and asks her dad about the difference between “principal” and “principle.” Ivan thinks that “humans love their words,” and suddenly an idea causes him to “leap up” (195) in excitement. He counts the 12 words on the mall billboard as the chapter ends.

Ivan arranges poster board in a large square and writes a giant “H” in red paint. He plans to write the word “home,” which he considers “a very important word” (199), although Bob, who is voluntarily homeless, does not agree.

Ivan is “so nervous” he can’t nap or eat much, since he’s ready to show Julia—an “artist” who will “truly look” (200) at his creation—his painting. If she can’t see what Ivan’s trying to say, he knows Ruby will remain trapped at the mall forever.

Ivan arranges his paintings like a “giant puzzle” (202), then bangs on his cage to get Julia’s attention. Julia isn’t sure what Ivan’s painting is supposed to be, and concludes “it doesn’t matter,” as “it’s pretty just as it is”—but Ivan, distraught, thinks “it does matter” (203) as the chapter ends.

George tells Julia it’s time to go, and Ivan frantically pushes paintings out of the hole in his cage, giving them to Julia. When George says the pictures are “just blobs,” Julia responds that “they might not be blobs to Ivan” (205)—but she still leaves the paintings behind, and Ivan fears that Ruby will “be here forever, just like Stella” and like Ivan—“another One and Only” (206).

Ivan says that an angry gorilla beating its chest is “not something you ever want to hear”—it’s a sound “as if the sky has broken open, as if men with guns are near” (207).

Ivan beats his chest the way he described in the previous chapter, capturing Julia and George’s attention. He is “angry, at last”—he finally has “someone to protect” (208). 

Julia, worried about Ivan, looks at one of the pictures scattered after his outburst. She sees an H, and then an E, and starts to notice images as well, an eye and a foot. She realizes Ivan has created “a puzzle,” “a giant picture” (212).

Julia and Ivan spend an hour trying to reassemble Ivan’s paintings into one picture, and Ruby recognizes Ivan has painted her—along with other elephants who are in a zoo. Julia also recognizes the painting’s subject, along with the word HOME, and she even sees a zoo logo, a circle with a red giraffe. Julia believes Ivan wants his picture to go on the mall billboard—she knows “because I’m an artist, and he’s an artist” (217). She begs her father to help her glue the picture to the billboard right away, but George is afraid of losing his job. Finally, when Julia worries Ruby will “end […] up like Stella” (219), George agrees to help.

When Mack arrives for work, he gazes at the billboard without moving “for a long time” (221).

Mack is nearly as loud as an angry gorilla, throwing furniture and even “breaking the cotton-candy machine” (222).

Mack gets a phone call, and an hour later the caller, a photographer from the local newspaper, comes to take pictures of the mall animals. From what he’s overheard of the conversation, Ivan surmises that Julia’s the one who called the paper, telling them about Ivan’s artwork.

When a photo of Ivan’s billboard appears in the paper, more visitors come to the mall and buy Ivan’s pictures. Mack and George put Ivan’s new paintings on the billboard every day, and Mack now charges even more money for Ivan’s art.

Humans now call Ivan “the Ape Artist” and “the Primate Picasso,” but for Ruby, “nothing’s changed” (228)—she still has to perform in the mall circus daily. Bob tells Ivan to have patience, and Ivan says he’s “tired of being patient” (228).

One night a man and woman interview Mack, George, and Julia and film everything in the mall—including the claw-stick Mack uses to train Ruby.

Mack switches on the TV and Ivan sees himself, the other animals, and humans on the five o’clock news—and the claw-stick is there as well.

The next morning, people stand in the parking lot holding signs on sticks, including a picture of “a gorilla cradling a baby elephant” (231). Ivan wishes he could read the signs’ words.

Even more protestors come to the mall, demanding that Mack free Ruby and proposing that the mall close. That night, Mack worries the people will “ruin everything” and tells George “thanks for nothing” (233). George appears concerned as he continues using his mop as “a giant brush, painting a picture no one will ever see” (233).

A man comes to “inspect” the mall while Mack observes, “scowling,” and Bob hides outside (234).

More and more protestors arrive by the day, shouting, “Free Ruby!” (235). After a week, the inspector returns with a woman wearing a white coat who studies Ivan and Ruby. She gives Mack a paper, and he retreats to his office and “slams the door” (235).

The white-coated woman returns with other people, bringing with them a “Ruby sized” box, and Ivan realizes they’re going “to take Ruby away” (237).

The woman encourages Ruby to explore the box, rewarding her with treats and clicks from a small device—something Bob calls “clicker training” (238). Ivan notices the red giraffe logo on the box and tells Ruby he thinks the woman will take her to the zoo. Ruby wants to stay in her “home” with Ivan, Bob and Julia—but Ivan tells her this isn’t a home, but a “prison” (240).

The woman comes with a doctor who inspects Ruby for an hour, then approaches Ivan and says “we’re going to need to put this one under” (241).

The only visitors to the mall are the protestors outside, and Mack shuts himself in his office the entire day.

While Ivan is asleep, people bring more boxes, including one that Bob thinks is for Ivan. Bob believes they’re taking all the animals in the mall to zoos or animal shelters, and when Ivan wonders what will happen to Bob, the dog doesn’t respond. Ivan worries about entering his own box—“[T]he last time I was in a box,” he says, “my sister died” (244).

Julia and George arrive at the mall and Julia tells Ivan it’s they’re last night together—Mack fired George, but the woman from the zoo might be able to get him a job. Ivan and Julia press their palms to each other on opposite sides of the glass, and Ivan thinks their hands are “not so very different” (245). Julia says she’ll miss all the animals, but they “deserve a different life” (245). She worries about Bob and wonders if she can adopt him, but her dad can’t afford it. Finally, Julia gives Ivan a painting of himself and Ruby—Ruby with another young elephant, and Ivan “holding hands with a lovely gorilla” (247). For the first time in one of Julia’s pictures, Ivan is “smiling” (248).