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Ivan recalls his father fondly at various points throughout the novel. Ivan’s father was everything Ivan says a silverback should be: kind, generous, and protective. Ivan remembers his father putting up with infant Ivan and Tag’s antics, such as bouncing on his belly and sleeping soundly as his babies tried to wake him up. As Ivan steps into a sort of fatherly role to Ruby, his perception of his father changes—he realizes that his father was probably only pretending to sleep as Tag and Ivan tried to wake him up, for instance. Poachers killed Ivan’s father when Ivan and Tag were just babies; they chopped off his hands and head after killing him.
Ivan’s Father Quotes in The One and Only Ivan
The The One and Only Ivan quotes below are all either spoken by Ivan’s Father or refer to Ivan’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
hello—the littlest big top on earth
Quotes
Anger is precious. A silverback uses anger to maintain order and warn his troop of danger. When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do.
Here in my domain, there is no one to protect.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Ivan’s Father Quotes in The One and Only Ivan
The The One and Only Ivan quotes below are all either spoken by Ivan’s Father or refer to Ivan’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
hello—the littlest big top on earth
Quotes
Anger is precious. A silverback uses anger to maintain order and warn his troop of danger. When my father beat his chest, it was to say, Beware, listen, I am in charge. I am angry to protect you, because that is what I was born to do.
Here in my domain, there is no one to protect.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
