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Half Brother

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Plot Summary

Half Brother

Kenneth Oppel

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2009

Plot Summary
Half Brother (2010) by Canadian young adult novelist Kenneth Oppel is a historical fiction book that follows an adolescent growing up with a chimpanzee who is part of his father’s scientific research; when the chimp becomes obsolete in the larger project, the protagonist goes to great lengths to save the chimp whom he now considers his half-brother. The novel received several high-profile awards in North America. It is heavily based on the real-life story of Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee in the 1970s that was raised to understand American Sign Language (ASL). Its themes include animal rights and autonomy, the nature of language, and the complexities of family relationships.

Ben Tomlin, the protagonist, tells how the family acquired Zan, the chimp. Ben’s mother, Sarah Tomlin, who works as a research assistant for his father, took the eight-day-old baby chimp away from his mother in New Mexico.

On his thirteenth birthday, Ben thinks about the lame presents he’ll likely receive. The family lives in Toronto, Canada, which Ben finds a bit boring. The family owns an “ancient” Volvo, and his father, Richard Tomlin, a somewhat famous behavioral psychologist, insists they go on a road trip to really see all of Canada. During this trip, Richard tells Ben the family is moving to Vancouver—right now—because he’s been offered a once in a lifetime opportunity at the local university.



Ben is shocked that his parents decided to move across the country without giving him any warning. Not only will he lack friends in the new location, but the house they end up in is out of the city limits, and there aren’t many entertaining things to do. The family’s possessions arrive in a truck days after their hasty move. This is also the first day Ben meets Zan; he instantly dislikes the monkey because his life has been uprooted so his psychologist parents can attempt to teach the chimp language.

Ben’s parents believe the best way for Zan to learn language is to treat him like a regular human being. They give him a lot of attention (at first) and expect Ben to simply accept this new brother. Initially, Ben resents this.

Ben comes around to liking Zan. Zan is cute as he wears infant clothing, takes baths, gets dirty in the sandbox, and acquires his own trove of stuffed animals. However, Ben notes that despite the researchers’ hope, infant Zan refuses to act like a human child. He hates wearing diapers and bites people who upset him. Still, the brothers bond after Ben teaches Zan his first word in ASL.



Meanwhile, Ben starts school. He’s good friends with members of the Godwin family, who work with his father. David, who is around his age, becomes a close friend; Cal, a few years older than the boys, is a model of masculinity that Ben would like to imitate. Ben also develops a crush on Jennifer Godwin, a popular girl in his class. Unfortunately, Ben isn’t that smooth, and the romance doesn’t really go anywhere.

Ben’s sympathy for Zan grows as he witnesses various indignities humans would never have to endure: a bed in the basement, handcuffed to a “learning chair” for misbehaving, constant practice of ASL by a rotating cast of graduate students.

The researchers are increasingly frustrated that Zan doesn’t act more like a human, but Ben thinks they’re the ones to blame for trying to change an animal’s nature. The only graduate student who seems to care about Zan as a sentient being is Peter, a hippie-looking young man who educates Ben on the animal rights movement. He objects to the “learning chair” and eventually has it removed.



Ben realizes that he and Zan are dictated to by forces larger than they can control, i.e. adults. He sees them both as trying to resist the rules of a social experiment they were forced into without their explicit consent. Ben resents his father for pestering him about low grades and growing too attached to Zan.

As Zan grows, he becomes stronger, posing a greater threat to the research students who mistreat him. The reader soon senses that Ben’s father is controlling and expects subservience from people and animals. Ben hates seeing his father being so dominant over his mother. To combat his father, Ben poses as a “tough guy” at home and school. Around the same time, Zan begins to threaten his “parents” with his teeth when they force him to do something against his will.

While Zan has made great progress, learning at least two signs every week, it isn’t impressive enough for certain grant-giving organizations. The project is suddenly low on funds when Ben’s father loses a grant he was sure he would receive.



Mr. Tomlin is increasingly angry with Zan, and, considering the expense of housing him, seeks ways to expel the chimp from their family. One day, observing Zan, he decides that Zan hasn’t learned language at all, but is simply imitating the various signals his trainers have taught him. He declares that the project has failed. Zan is sent to a primate facility in Nevada, led by Jack Helson, an American veteran who takes out his unresolved anger on the chimps. Zan is stripped of his clothes, his toys, and is forced to sleep in a cage without any blankets.

Ben surprises himself by acting like a good half-brother: he is willing to do anything to keep in contact with Zan. Ben does what he can to help his half-brother. He tells Peter about the transition to Helson’s farm, and Peter decides to travel south and to get a job there so he can look out for Zan.

One day, sorting through the mail, Peter discovers a letter from a biomedical research center. It turns out that Mr. Helson has agreed to animal testing for a number years. Peter shows the letter to the Tomlins, and the family agrees that they must get Zan out of that facility. They start a public fundraiser and raise $12,000 to buy Zan back. But Mr. Helson decides he doesn’t want to sell Zan back. The Tomlins tell their story to various media outlets. Public opinion is so fierce that Mr. Helson eventually relents.



Once reunited with Zan, the Tomlins arrange for him to live in an animal sanctuary for the rest of his life. While Ben wishes that Zan could live with them, he understands that is not possible. The novel closes with Ben having a dream that he is signing with Zan; Zan says he knows it’s best for him in the sanctuary, but he’ll never forget what being human feels like.

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