How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Line)
Quote #1
I used to be a wild gorilla, and I still look the part. (how I look.14)
Ivan describes himself like an actor playing a role in a film or a play, and when he does, his sort of neither-here-nor-there identity begins to be established.
Quote #2
I am a great ape and you are a great ape, and so are chimpanzees and orangutans and bonobos, all of us distant and distrustful cousins. (how I look.18)
Ivan reminds us of the fact that humans descended from apes. Do you think this makes his forced captivity at the hands of humans harder for him than it is for his animal friends who aren't so closely related to humans?
Quote #3
I too find it hard to believe there is a connection across time and space, linking me to a race of ill-mannered clowns. (how I look.20)
In other words, much as humans like to distance themselves from Ivan and other apes, so, too, does Ivan like to distance himself from other apes, mainly chimps. Ivan really doesn't like chimps.