The One And Only Ivan

While Ivan and his elephant friends Stella and Ruby are confined to their mall cages, the other major animal character, Bob, is a stray dog with no “permanent address” (34). Why might Applegate have chosen to include an animal character whose life isn’t as directly controlled by humans? What purpose does Bob’s character serve in the novel?

Discuss how both Stella and Ivan change once Ruby arrives at the mall. How does the young elephant’s presence force the older animals to reexamine their own situations? How does Ruby reawaken natural instincts these animals would have experienced in the wild?

Ivan introduces 10-year-old Julia by saying “we are both great apes, and we are both artists” (16). How does this quotation illustrate Julia’s role in the novel? How does Julia compare to other human characters, and what does her presence say about human-animal relationships in general?

Ivan says that even as a baby, he had an “artist’s eye” (19). Describe the importance of Ivan’s identity as an artist throughout the novel. How does his “artist’s eye” allow him to see the world, and what role does Ivan’s art play in the plot and themes of the novel?

The mall owner Mack raised Ivan like a human child and seems to care for the gorilla, but he also keeps Ivan and the other animals in cages and displays increasingly callous behavior toward Stella and Ruby throughout the novel. How does Applegate present Mack’s character in the book? Do readers ever sympathize with Mack? How does Mack’s character connect to larger human-animal relationships in the novel?

Discuss the author’s portrayal of different human institutions that hold animals captive: the mall, circuses, and the “good zoo[s]” (64) Stella describes. How does Applegate depict these different arenas? What hope, if any, do they hold for improving relationships between people and animals?

In The One and Only Ivan, Ivan says he’s mostly “a peaceful sort” (172). However, the novel’s circumstances force Ivan to discover “another Ivan” (172) within him. Describe Ivan’s journey from peaceful acceptance to action and anger throughout the novel. Do Ivan’s two sides war with each other, or does he find a way to reconcile them by the novel’s end?

When Ruby prepares to go to the zoo, she’s reluctant to leave what she considers her mall “home” with the animals and Julia, but Ivan believes this “home” is actually a “prison” (240). Whom do you agree with—Ivan or Ruby—and why? How does the definition of the mall cages reflect larger themes and transformations in the novel?