Ivan remembers his mother as “a patient soul.” She put up with Ivan painting on her back with mud and, as all gorilla mothers do, carried Ivan and his twin Tag everywhere. Poachers murdered her when they captured Ivan and Tag. The poachers chopped off her hands and head after killing her.
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Ivan’s Mother Character Timeline in The One and Only Ivan
The timeline below shows where the character Ivan’s Mother appears in The One and Only Ivan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
gone—the beetle
...he’s always been an artist. When he was a baby and still clung to his mother, he’d notice shapes in the clouds or sculptures in stones. He’d grab for colorful things,...
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sorry. But Ivan is sorry he called the children “slimy chimps”—his mother would be ashamed.
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the promise—a visit
...Ivan was afraid that he’d drop the baby, so he held her tightly—but the baby’s mother snatched her back. Now, Ivan wonders if his own mother worried about dropping him and...
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a new beginning—another ivan
What they did. Ivan remembers that he and Tag were holding tightly to their mother when humans killed her and their father. The humans chopped off the dead gorillas’ hands,...
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