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The Billboard
Ivan’s TV symbolizes how small Ivan’s world is, and how powerless he is, when he lives at the Big Top Mall. The TV is Ivan’s only connection to the outside world. He spends most of his TV-watching time watching Westerns, which he enjoys, but they don’t reflect real life particularly accurately. At one point, for instance, Ivan wishes he could be like the sheriffs he’s seen in the Westerns and enforce the law at the mall—but instead, Ivan is powerless to make anyone, human or animal, do what he wants.
Nevertheless, the TV offers Ivan important insight into the rest of the world. It’s because of television that Ivan knows he’s not the only gorilla in the world, since a nature documentary shows Ivan another male gorilla. The TV is also responsible for showing Ivan what a zoo looks like so that Ivan can then paint a more accurate depiction of a zoo as he works to free Ruby. But while the TV may do good things for Ivan in these instances, it’s also important to note that Ivan doesn’t have any control over what he sees on TV, or if he even gets to watch TV at all. Any help or insight the TV might offer is useful, but Ivan can’t control when, how, or if he gets this information.
Finally, it’s impossible to note the resemblance between Ivan’s TV and Ivan’s life inside his cage. Just as Ivan is powerless to choose what he watches on TV or if the TV is on at all, he’s also powerless to stop being entertainment for visitors to the mall—in his cage with glass walls, Ivan is akin to a TV show that’s always playing.
The TV Quotes in The One and Only Ivan
The The One and Only Ivan quotes below all refer to the symbol of The TV. 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:
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gone—the beetle
Quotes
My visitors are often surprised when they see the TV Mack put in my domain. They seem to find it odd, the sight of a gorilla staring at tiny humans in a box.
Sometimes I wonder, though: Isn’t the way they stare at me, sitting in my tiny box, just as strange?
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My visitors are often surprised when they see the TV Mack put in my domain. They seem to find it odd, the sight of a gorilla staring at tiny humans in a box.
Sometimes I wonder, though: Isn’t the way they stare at me, sitting in my tiny box, just as strange?
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days—finally
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Mack turns on my TV. It’s a Western. There’s a human with a big hat and a small gun. He has a shiny star pinned to his chest. That means he is the sheriff and he will be getting rid of all the bad guys.
“If this sells quick, I’m getting you some more of that paint, buddy,” Mack says.
He walks away with my painting. Ruby’s painting. For a moment, I imagine what it would feel like to be that sheriff.
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Mack turns on my TV. It’s a Western. There’s a human with a big hat and a small gun. He has a shiny star pinned to his chest. That means he is the sheriff and he will be getting rid of all the bad guys.
“If this sells quick, I’m getting you some more of that paint, buddy,” Mack says.
He walks away with my painting. Ruby’s painting. For a moment, I imagine what it would feel like to be that sheriff.
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the next morning—photo
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Mack turns on the TV.
We are on The Early News at Five O’Clock.
Bob says don’t let it go to my head.
There we all are. Mack, Ruby, me. George and Julia. The billboard, the mall, the ring.
And the claw-stick.
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Mack turns on the TV.
We are on The Early News at Five O’Clock.
Bob says don’t let it go to my head.
There we all are. Mack, Ruby, me. George and Julia. The billboard, the mall, the ring.
And the claw-stick.
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leaving—mighty silverback
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They stand side by side, just the way Stella and Ruby used to. Their trunks entwine. I see something new in Ruby’s eyes, and I know what it is.
It’s joy.
I watch the whole thing, and then Maya plays it again for me, and again. At last she turns off the TV and carries it out of the cage.
I put my hand to the glass. Maya looks over.
Thank you, I try to say with my eyes. Thank you.
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They stand side by side, just the way Stella and Ruby used to. Their trunks entwine. I see something new in Ruby’s eyes, and I know what it is.
It’s joy.
I watch the whole thing, and then Maya plays it again for me, and again. At last she turns off the TV and carries it out of the cage.
I put my hand to the glass. Maya looks over.
Thank you, I try to say with my eyes. Thank you.
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Get the entire The One and Only Ivan LitChart as a printable PDF.
The TV Symbol Timeline in The One and Only Ivan
The timeline below shows where the symbol The TV appears in The One and Only Ivan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
gone—the beetle
...there’s a tire swing, a baseball, a little pool with dirty water, and an old TV. Ivan also has a stuffed toy gorilla, which Julia, the cleaner’s daughter, gave him. The...
(full context)
tv. Ivan’s visitors are usually surprised when they see the TV in his domain. They think it’s odd that a gorilla would stare “at tiny humans...
(full context)
Bob loves TV too, though he prefers watching bowling and commercials for cat food. Bob and Ivan also...
(full context)
change—worry
jambo. Since Ivan’s TV is off, he asks Stella to tell a story while they wait for the new...
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the promise—a visit
...that he’d be here so long. Now, Ivan says, he eats old apples and watches TV. But a lot of the time, he forgets what he’s supposed to be. He’s not...
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days—finally
...can sell this picture for more money than Ivan’s other drawings. Then he turns Ivan’s TV on to a Western; Ivan knows that the man on the screen is a sheriff...
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the next morning—photo
the early news. When Mack turns on the TV, the mall is on The Early News at Five O’Clock. Ivan watches himself, Ruby, Julia,...
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leaving—mighty silverback
a new tv. One day, Maya brings Ivan a new, bigger TV. She turns it on with a smile. Ivan hopes it’s going to show him a...
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the family. Ivan watches the gorillas on TV every day. The family is small and strange: there are only three females and a...
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excited. This morning, Maya doesn’t turn on Ivan’s TV. Instead, she and her friends say, “Today’s the day” and act excited. Ivan has never...
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what I see. This reveals gorillas—the gorilla family Ivan has been watching on his TV. But this time, they’re on the other side of the glass, and they’re watching Ivan...
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...enjoy the beautiful day, but he gives in when Maya adds some yogurt raisins. The TV is on in the cage, showing Ivan another nature show. But instead of gorillas, Ivan...
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romance. Romance looks easy on TV, but it’s hard in real life. Ivan has to make eye contact, grunt, and throw...
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