THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate
Katherine Applegate’s 'The One and Only Ivan' is a cry for animal rights that works on its reader in slow subtle steps. You won't find speeches or pontifications or long lengthy lamentations. Instead, it’s just a gorilla living what life he can, until the day he can't. Thanks to its restraint the book ends up being a gem.
The One and Only Ivan is a work of fiction, but its inspiration lies with a true story. Ivan, a real gorilla, lived at Zoo Atlanta, but on the way to that happy ending, he spent almost three decades living in a small cage as the main attraction of an off-highway food court and video arcade without ever seeing another of his own kind. Ivan shares his life at the Mall with Stella - a mature elephant who is sold to Mack, the Mall owner, after outliving her usefulness as a circus performer. Money is tight at the Mall and business has slowed down. Medication for Stella's injured and infected foot is not a priority. In order to drum up business, Mack acquires a new attraction - a baby elephant named Ruby. Stella slowly succumbs to her injuries, but not before extracting a promise from Ivan that he would look after Ruby and get her to a zoo.
What follows is a shining example of what happens when hope meets action. Ivan has to grow and change in the course of this novel (example - Ivan stops referring to 'his domain' and begins to call his surroundings what they are - a cage). He comes to realize that wishing alone will never change Ruby's destiny and begins to work on a plan, hoping almost against hope that someone with more power and ability will understand what he is trying to do.
It is the temptation of every author to simplify ethics when they write for children. Bad guys are bad, good guys are good. This is particularly true of animal abuse stories. After all, who wants to dig up a heart of gold in a character that kicks puppies? Yet the best books for kids are often the ones that allow for at least a glimpse of the human inside the villain. It is one of the reasons why The One and Only Ivan distinguishes itself. Mack is the villain here, no question about it. You don’t go around hitting baby elephants with sharp objects. But there are depths to Mack as well. He’s a man who really did love Ivan on some level when the gorilla was a baby. Then his wife left him and he started hitting the booze to deal with his financial problems. There are a lot of Mack's in this world and it’s worth knowing you can feel sorry for someone but still hold them accountable for their actions. No matter how bad you feel for Mack, the author never lets you forget that he’s the reason for Ivan, Thelma, and Ruby’s imprisonment.
Throughout the book, the author treats us to a lovely use of language. A seal has a “voice like the throaty bark of a dog chained outside on a cold night.” “Humans always smell odd when change is in the air. Like rotten meat with a hint of papaya.” “Human babies are an ugly lot. But their eyes are like our babies’ eyes. Too big for their faces, and for the world.” And a mop, “moves across the empty food court like a giant brush, painting a picture no one will ever see.”
An excellent story with a wonderful use of the written word. It's a match made in literary heaven.
