hello, names, patience, how I look, the exit 8 big top mall and video arcade
- Meet Ivan, our narrator, the dude at the heart of the story, and a gorilla.
- Humans have given him many impressive names: the Mighty silverback, the One and Only Ivan.
- But Ivan likes to keep it simple, so it's just Ivan for him.
- Gorillas, he explains, don't like to waste words… unlike humans.
- And speaking of humans and words, he understands what humans say and thinks that they waste a lot of time chattering—like chimps.
- Gorillas are also as patient as stones, and apparently skilled at making metaphors.
- Ivan says he is no longer a wild gorilla, but still looks the part; he is four hundred pounds of pure power, and mightier than any human.
- Ivan lives at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, a circus-themed shopping center in a human habitat made of cement and glass.
- He calls this his domain.
- One of the walls of his cell has a jungle scene with a waterfall painted on it (nice try, humans).
- Mack, the resident clown-human, is the boss.
- Ivan's best friends are Stella, an elephant, and Bob, a dog.
- He is lucky to have a view of the mall and the world beyond it, which consists of a treeless parking lot, the freeway, and a billboard with images of an angry gorilla and a clown on it.
- Ivan feels misrepresented, and says he is never angry. For gorillas, anger is precious, and a silverback should only use anger to maintain order or to warn his troop of danger.
- Ivan remembers his father beating his chest to show that he was in charge. He knew his purpose: to protect his family. Ivan wished he had someone to protect.
- He also wishes he could read.