The One And Only Ivan

In this brief chapter, the novel’s narrator simply introduces himself as Ivan, a gorilla—and he states that being a gorilla is “not as easy as it looks” (1).

Ivan says that humans call him “the Freeway Gorilla,” “the Ape at Exit 8,” and “the One and Only Ivan, Mighty Silverback” (2). Humans assume Ivan can’t understand their words, but he can, though he knows their names are “not me”—rather, he is “just Ivan, only Ivan” (2).

Ivan says he comprehends human language, but that’s “not the same as understanding humans” (3). Ivan used great patience to learn how to speak, as “gorillas are as patient as stones” (3). People, on the other hand, are without patience, filling the world with meaningless words “even when they have nothing to say” (3).