The One and Only Ivan: gone—the beetle Summary & Analysis

gone. While some animals live private lives, Ivan does not. His life consists of flashing lights and lots of visitors. Humans put their small hands against the glass that keeps them apart. The glass says, “you are this and we are that and that is how it will always be.” The humans’ fingerprints get left behind until a tired man wipes them at the end of the day. Ivan sometimes puts his nose against the glass to make a nose print. When the man wipes the nose print away, Ivan is gone too.

artists. There isn’t much for Ivan to do in his domain. He can only throw so many me-balls (dried balls of dung) at humans before it gets boring. He always keeps some me-balls on hand, but visitors don’t seem to have any. In Ivan’s domain, there’s a tire swing, a baseball, a little pool with dirty water, and an old TV. Ivan also has a stuffed toy gorilla, which Julia, the cleaner’s daughter, gave him. The toy gorilla is floppy and looks empty, but Ivan sleeps with it every night. He calls it Not-Tag; Tag was his twin sister.

Julia is 10. She has black hair and a big smile, and she and Ivan have lots in common: they’re both great apes and artists. Julia gave Ivan his first crayon through the hole in his glass. Having watched Julia draw before, Ivan knew what to do with it. Julia draws lots of things that aren’t real, like smiling clouds and swimming cars. Ivan thinks that her pictures are “like pieces of a dream.” Ivan can’t draw pictures like hers, since he doesn’t remember his dreams. Sometimes he wakes up with his fists balled up and his heart pounding, though.

Next to Julia’s drawings, Ivan’s are “pale and timid.” Ivan focuses on drawing things in his cage, like apple cores and banana peels. He draws the same things many times, but he never gets bored when he’s making art. He can focus on the act of drawing with a crayon in his hand. Humans often don’t recognize what Ivan draws. When they look at his pictures of bananas, they sometimes think he’s drawn an airplane or a wingless duck. Ivan doesn’t mind, since he’s drawing for himself, not for them. After a while, Mack realized that people would buy Ivan’s drawings. Now, Ivan draws every day. In the gift shop, his drawings go for $20—or $25 with a frame. When Ivan gets tired of drawing, he eats his crayons.

shapes in clouds. Ivan thinks 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, like birds or flowers. Ivan doesn’t remember much of his early life, but he does remember using mud to draw on his mother’s back. His mother was “a patient soul.”

imagination. Ivan hopes that someday, he can draw like Julia; that is, he can draw worlds that don’t yet exist. He’s aware that most humans don’t think gorillas have imaginations, or they think that gorillas can’t remember the past or think about the future. Maybe they have a point. Ivan tries to think about what already is, not what might happen. He’s learned that he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

the loneliest gorilla in the world. At first, when the Big Top Mall was new, it smelled fresh and clean and humans visited all day long. Lately, though, there have been days when no one visits. Mack is worried and says that Ivan isn’t cute anymore. He tells Ivan that Ivan has lost his magic, and Ivan agrees—people don’t stick around to stare at him like they used to. Now, they say that Ivan looks lonely. Not too long ago, a little boy sobbed as he looked at Ivan and said that Ivan must be the loneliest gorilla in the world. Then, Ivan wished that humans could understand him. He wanted to tell the boy that it’s not so bad—you can get used to pretty much anything with enough time.

tv. Ivan’s visitors are usually surprised when they see the TV in his domain. They think it’s odd that a gorilla would stare “at tiny humans in a box.” But Ivan thinks that it’s just as strange that humans stare at Ivan, sitting in his own tiny box. The TV is old, and sometimes, nobody remembers to turn it on. Ivan enjoys cartoons most of all, since they’re brightly colored, and the people in them sometimes slip on banana peels.

Bob loves TV too, though he prefers watching bowling and commercials for cat food. Bob and Ivan also watch a lot of romance movies, with hugging and “face licking.” Ivan hasn’t seen a single romance starring a gorilla. They watch Westerns, too, which Ivan likes because it’s easy to tell who’s good and who’s bad—and the good guys always win. According to Bob, Westerns aren’t like real life.

the nature show. Ivan has been in his domain for 9,855 days, totally alone. When he was young and naïve, he thought he was the last gorilla on the planet. He tried to think of other things, but it’s hard to stay positive if you believe you’re the last of your kind. But then, one night, a new kind of show came on after a Western. Ivan watched a forest on the screen—and then, he saw a male gorilla. The gorilla vanished, and Ivan watched a polar bear and a manatee. He thought about the gorilla a lot after that and wondered where he lived. Would that gorilla ever come to visit, and are there female gorillas out there too? Or are there just two male gorillas in the world, trapped in boxes?

stella. Stella is certain that one day, Ivan will see another real gorilla. Ivan believes her because she’s old and knows a lot. She’s like a mountain; Ivan is just a rock next to her, while Bob is as tiny as a grain of sand. Ivan and Stella talk every night after the stores close. Even though they don’t have a lot in common, they have enough to connect: they’re both big, alone, and love yogurt raisins. Stella sometimes talks about her childhood in a jungle. She remembers everything about her past, unlike Ivan. She loves the moon, while Ivan loves the sun. And though they talk, they don’t talk too much—both elephants and gorillas dislike “wasting” words.

Stella used to work for a big, famous circus. She still sometimes does the tricks she learned there for the show here. She stands on her hind legs while Snickers jumps on her head. This is a difficult trick when you’re as big as Stella is. If a circus elephant does the trick right, they get treats. If they do it wrong, “the claw-stick comes swinging.” Though elephants’ skin is very thick, a claw-stick can pierce it easily. One time, Stella watched a trainer hit a bull elephant with a claw-stick. The bull tossed the trainer with his trunk. Stella told Ivan that the man flew—but she never saw the bull elephant again after that.

stella’s trunk. Ivan thinks of Stella’s trunk as a miracle. With it, she can pick up single peanuts, tickle mice, and tap humans’ shoulders. However, it can’t open the door of her domain. Stella has scars on her legs from the chains she wore as a young elephant. She calls the chains her “bracelets.”

Back then, Stella had to balance on a pedestal as part of a trick. One time, she fell off the pedestal and hurt her foot. She never recovered, so the circus sold her to Mack. Her foot still hasn’t healed completely. Now Stella walks with a limp, and sometimes, her foot gets infected. Last winter, she got very sick for five days. Ivan isn’t convinced that she’s better now, but Stella never complains. Here, Stella doesn’t have to wear a chain. She’s tied to the floor with a rope. Stella believes that the humans think she’s too old to get into trouble—but “old age is a powerful disguise.”

a plan. Nobody has visited the mall in two days, so Mack is in a bad mood. He grouses that he’s losing money and is going to sell every animal. Thelma, the macaw, screeches “Kiss me, big boy” for the third time, so Mack throws a can at her. She hops away just in time (she can’t fly since her wings are clipped). Mack goes into his office and closes the door. Ivan wonders if the visitors are tired of him. Perhaps he should learn a trick. Fortunately, humans always seem to like watching Ivan eat, and Ivan is always hungry. Silverbacks have to eat 45 pounds of food every day to stay a silverback. Ivan vows that tomorrow, he’ll try to eat 50 or even 55 pounds of food. That will make Mack happy.

bob. Ivan shares his plan with Bob, but Bob isn’t convinced. He insists that Ivan’s appetite isn’t the issue, hops onto Ivan’s chest, and inspects his chin for extra food. Bob is a stray; he’s so fast and clever that the mall workers don’t even try to catch him anymore. He eats hot dogs out of the trash and spilled ice cream cones. Ivan sometimes offers to share his food with Bob, but Bob declines.

Bob is very tiny. He’s like a brown “barking squirrel,” and his tail is always moving. His tail conveys all sorts of emotions and phrases, like human words. Ivan finds it confusing sometimes. Gorillas don’t need tails because their feelings aren’t complicated. Bob used to have brothers and sisters, but humans tossed all six puppies onto the freeway when they were little. Bob rolled into the ditch, but his siblings weren’t so lucky.

That first night, Bob slept in the mud and was so cold that he could barely get up. The night after that, he snuggled into the dirty hay near the Big Top Mall’s garbage bins. Then, the night after that, Bob climbed into Ivan’s domain through the hole in the glass. When Ivan woke up, there was a puppy asleep on his belly. Ivan didn’t know what to do; it had been so long since he’d touched another being. He stayed still all night so he wouldn’t wake Bob up.

wild. Ivan asked Bob once why he doesn’t want a home. Ivan knows that humans love dogs and, to be fair, puppies are easier to cuddle with than gorillas. Bob insisted that his home is everywhere and that he’s a “wild beast.” When Ivan suggested that Bob work like Snickers the poodle, Bob responded by snarling and pointing out that Snickers eats nasty meat from a can. And poodles, according to Bob, are “parasites.”

picasso. Mack passes Ivan a fresh yellow crayon and 10 pieces of paper. He tells Ivan to earn his keep and calls him “Picasso.” Ivan wonders if Picasso has a tire swing and eats his crayons. Since Ivan knows he “lost his magic,” he tries hard to think of what to draw. He looks around his domain for something yellow and draws a banana. When he’s done, he leans back, and Mack grabs the drawing. Mack sighs that it’s “another scribble” and prompts Ivan to do the next nine drawings. Ivan draws nine more bananas.

three visitors. There are three visitors staring at Ivan: a woman, a boy, and a girl. Ivan performs for them, strutting, dangling from his swing, and eating banana peels. But the boy spits at the glass, and the girl throws some pebbles. Sometimes, Ivan is glad that there’s glass to separate him from the humans.

my visitors return. Once the show is over, the rude children come back. Ivan bares his teeth for them, grunts, and eats some more. In response, the children “pound their pathetic chests” and throw more pebbles at Ivan. Ivan throws a me-ball toward them and calls them “slimy chimps,” wishing that the glass wasn’t there.

sorry. But Ivan is sorry he called the children “slimy chimps”—his mother would be ashamed.

julia. Julia is a child, like the other rude children, but it’s not her fault she’s a child. Her father, George, cleans the mall every night, and Julia sits by Ivan’s domain. She could sit anywhere, but she chooses to sit with him. Ivan thinks that this is because they both love drawing. Julia’s mother, Sara, used to help clean the mall, but she stopped coming when she got sick. Now, Julia offers to help George clean, but he tells her to do her homework instead. Ivan knows that homework means pencils, big books, and sighing. He likes chewing pencils, so he thinks he’d be great at homework.

Julia sometimes falls asleep or reads, but most of the time, she draws and talks to Ivan about her day. This isn’t unusual; lots of people talk to Ivan. This might be because people don’t realize that Ivan can understand them, or maybe it’s because he can’t respond. Julia tells Ivan about how she likes science and art, but she doesn’t like the bullies at school. She wants to be a famous artist. Julia sometimes draws Ivan. In her pictures, Ivan looks elegant, never angry like he does on the billboard. But in Julia’s pictures, Ivan always looks a little sad.

drawing bob. Ivan adores the pictures that Julia draws of Bob. She draws him in all sorts of poses: running, hiding, or sleeping on Ivan’s belly. Sometimes she draws him with wings or a tortoise shell. In Ivan’s opinion, the best thing Julia has done for Bob was to give him his name. Bob was nameless for a long time. But one afternoon, Ivan watched Julia draw Bob while he was sleeping. Julia looked at Bob “the way an artist looks at the world when she’s trying to understand it.” When she was done, there wasn’t just a picture of Bob—she’d written the name “Bob” under it. George commented that he didn’t realize the dog’s name was Bob, and Julia responded that she had to draw him to figure out his name.

bob and julia. Bob doesn’t let humans touch him, insisting that the smell of humans “upsets his digestion.” Occasionally, though, Ivan spots him sitting at Julia’s feet, letting her scratch his ears.

mack. Mack usually leaves the mall after the last show. Tonight, though, he’s working in his office. After a while, he comes out and stares at Ivan while drinking out of a brown bottle. When George comes up to him, they talk about what they always do—the game, how business is slow, and the trash. Then, Mack asks Julia what she’s drawing. Julia explains that it’s a flying dog for Sara, since she likes airplanes and dogs. Mack makes a noncommittal noise and then asks George how Sara is. George says that not much has changed; Sara has good days and bad days. Mack turns to leave and then gives George a green piece of paper. He tells George to buy Julia more crayons and leaves before George can thank him.

not sleepy. After George and Julia go home, Ivan tells Stella that he can’t sleep. She notes that he’s “the king of sleepers,” and Bob tells Ivan to be quiet—he’s dreaming about chili fries. Ivan says he’s tired, but he’s not sleepy, so Stella asks what he’s tired of. Ivan thinks for a bit. Gorillas don’t complain much; they’re more “dreamers” and “poets.” Kicking his tire swing, Ivan says he might be tired of his domain. Tactlessly, Bob says that’s because it’s a cage, not a domain. Stella admits it’s a small domain, and Bob adds that Ivan is quite large.

Ivan asks Stella if her leg is hurting, since he noticed her limping earlier. Stella admits it hurts a little. Everyone sighs, and Bob drools. Stella suggests that Ivan eat something, since that always makes him happy. Ivan eats a brown carrot, but it doesn’t help. He doesn’t admit that to Stella, though, since he knows she needs to sleep. Stella suggests that Ivan remember a happy day, which is what she does when she can’t sleep. But Stella remembers everything—and Ivan reminds her that his memory isn’t as good.

Gently, Stella notes that there’s a difference between not being able to remember and refusing to remember. Ivan admits that this is true. Not remembering is difficult sometimes, but Ivan has been practicing for a long time. Stella adds that memories are important, since memories help remind them of who they are. She suggests that Ivan remember all his keepers, especially Karl. Ivan remembers Karl; he once gave Ivan a coconut.

Ivan thinks about his other keepers who cleaned his domain, sat with him, and fed him. Gerald was his favorite; he once brought Ivan a box of strawberries. Ivan hasn’t had a keeper in a long time, since Mack doesn’t want to pay for “an ape babysitter.” George cleans Ivan’s cage, while Mack feeds him. When it comes to people who have taken care of him, Ivan remembers Mack most of all. Mack bought Ivan and raised him—and now he says that Ivan isn’t cute anymore. Silverbacks, though, aren’t cute. As the moonlight hits the carousel and the popcorn stand, Ivan listens to Stella’s breathing and waits to fall asleep.

the beetle. Mack gives Ivan a black crayon and a stack of paper. Ivan rolls the crayon in his hands—he loves new crayons more than anything—and looks for something black to draw. He’s eaten all his old banana peels, and everything else in his domain is some other color. Then, something in the corner moves. It’s a shiny beetle. Ivan greets the beetle, which freezes. The beetle is pretty and black, so Ivan decides to draw him. Ivan doesn’t often get to draw new things, so it’s difficult. But he tries his best and draws the beetle’s body, antennae, and face.

Luckily, the beetle stays all day. Most bugs move on from Ivan’s domain quickly, so Ivan wonders if the bug is okay. Bob offers to eat the beetle, but Ivan declines. As Ivan finishes his last picture, Mack, George, and Julia come over. Mack picks up a drawing and says that Ivan draws pictures of nothing. Julia asks to see the picture. She studies it, looks around, and says that Ivan drew the beetle in the corner. Mack grouses that he just sprayed for bugs and heads over to squish the beetle, but the beetle hurries away. Mack grudgingly accepts Julia’s insistence that Ivan’s drawing is of a beetle. Ivan thinks it’s nice to have another artist around.