How It All Goes Down
One with Everything
Ivan has a few things he'd like to tell us about himself, and while he's at it, human nature as a whole. First and foremost, gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, humans—we are all related, all big apes. Facts like this are important to Ivan because he's at a place in life in which he is questioning everything.
Ivan is asking the big questions these days. Like why, if gorillas are so powerful, is this guy Mack, a human, his boss? If we are all apes, why is Ivan, who once shared a house with Mack, stuck in a cage while the humans are free to go where they choose? Why are the animals at the Big Top Mall employees, expected to perform tricks and entertain people each day?
Ivan's a clever and warm-hearted guy who has discovered, with the help of ten-year-old Julia, the artist within him. Julia's dad, George, is a janitor and employee at the mall, and the two of them make up some of the kinder humans in Ivan's life. Julia is the first person to see the potential in Ivan, giving him crayons and paper and using their time together to draw and create, while Mack uses Ivan's drawings to lure in more customers, selling them for $25 a pop at the gift shop. Ivan claims he draws to overcome boredom.
Soul Survivors
While he is less than thrilled to be where he is, Ivan has worked hard to accept his circumstances. He understands human language, and hears people refer to him as lonely, but since he lives among friends who care really about him, he does not describe himself as such. Bob the dog and Stella the elephant and resident wise woman are faithful companions to Ivan, plus he has a small black and white television as a window to the world outside of the mall. He watches old Westerns though "they are nothing like real life" (tv.109).
One night Ivan sees a nature show on his television, and realizes that forests, trees, birds, grass, and another gorilla really do exist somewhere out there. Like most of his realizations, this makes him both sad and happy.
Stella is circus survivor with an inured foot, who really shouldn't be performing anymore, but the Big Top Mall is losing money, so Mack pushes Stella because it brings in customers. Bob is also a survivor, tossed out of a truck by humans as a pup. Unlike Ivan, Bob clings to his painful childhood memories, from which he has developed a very grim and distrustful view of humans. Julia is the only human that Bob trusts and Ivan enjoys spending time with.
The Second Elephant in the Room
Mack's plan to bring in a new baby elephant named Ruby to increase business is met with sadness by Stella, who immediately understands how this spells suffering. Not only has the baby been unfairly taken from her mother, but Ruby's going to end up like the rest of them, living in a cage, chained to the ground, forced to perform for humans.
Mack, however, is sure, though, this this new purchase is going to generate serious cash flow. Admitting that he "got her cheap from this bankrupt circus out West," however, does nothing to make him look like a decent human being.
On the flipside, it's pretty cool that Ivan, Stella, and Bob have a new friend around. This move makes them the resident elders, dispensing wisdom freely. New to the world, Ruby is full of questions, and when she's not exchanging elephant jokes with Ivan or being mothered by Stella, she's knee-deep in the art of inquiry, asking Ivan about how this whole employee-boss thing works. With everything painted in a fresh coat of scrutiny, life at the Big Top Mall starts to look ugly.
Mack uses cruelty in the form of a claw stick to train Ruby, and Stella shadows Ivan as he witnesses a harsh truth: In order to train an animal, you must first break its spirit.
Stella's leg infection worsens, and she is soon too sick to continue performing. Since Stella is surrogate mother to Ruby, soul mate to Ivan, and paycheck to Mack, her failing health feels like the end of the world for around everyone. Mack thinks he'll save a buck by postponing a vet visit, but pays the price with guilt when Stella takes a turn for the worse. Stella's last wish is that Ivan protect Ruby after she dies, and she asks him to promise that Ruby won't live the life of a circus performer.
Ivan the Great
Ivan, who has never had the highest self-esteem, is catapulted into his new role as protector of Ruby, and Bob steps up to cheer him on. Chaperoning Ruby through her grief, Ivan is flooded with memories and forced to confront his buried familial wounds. Now in touch with the truth of his violent capture and subsequent confinement, Ivan is recharged with the task of finding a new home for Ruby, and devises a brilliant scheme to make it happen.
Ivan's plan is off to a great start, and if all goes well will send Ruby to a better place, which in this case means the zoo. Or as Stella calls it, "the place where humans makes amends." Ivan stays up all night painting a sign that says home along with a portrait of Ruby in a zoo, then relies on Julia to deliver the message to her dad or anyone who will see that Ivan is trying to communicate.
With Liberty and Justice For All
Once posted outside, visitors come from all over to see the artwork that the gorilla has thrown down. But while Mack sees dollar signs, video cameras show up to document a day in the life of the animals at the Big Top Mall, and after that protestors arrive on the scene calling for the release of Ruby and Ivan. Mack responds by firing George, and the whole operation is soon forced to shut down.
Both Ivan and Ruby are relocated to a zoo, and Ivan must finally faces his fears and learn to be the silverback king of the wild gorilla frontier, which after living in a cage for so many years is nearly impossible. However, Ivan wins a new gorilla family, the great outdoors, and peace of mind when he discovers one afternoon that Ruby has a lovely and comfortable home just across the pond with her fellow elephants.
The cherry on top is Julia, who visits with Bob in tow, and announces that her dad, George, has a new job at the zoo. Ivan is happy that Bob has opened his heart to humans, landed a secure spot with the best specimens possible, that Ruby is safe and with her own, and that his new expanse includes an empty wall and some mud to paint with.