Kindness Theme Analysis

Though the animal characters in The One and Only Ivan describe the various cruelties they’ve experienced at human hands, they also highlight the times when humans have been surprisingly kind. The baby elephant Ruby, for instance, acknowledges that bad humans killed her family and captured her—but she also feels extremely grateful to the kind humans who rescued her from a hole filled with water before she was captured. And both Ivan (a gorilla) and Stella (an elephant) describe zoos as places “where humans make amends,” presumably for other humans’ cruel, inhumane behavior. In addition, as Ivan embarks on his quest to get Ruby removed from the Big Top Mall and into a zoo, he realizes that one of the kindest things he can do for Ruby is to be honest with her about their circumstances—even if doing so is emotionally painful. Through this, The One and Only Ivan acknowledges that being kind isn’t always easy—a cynical outlook is, in some cases, emotionally easier. Nevertheless, the novel suggests that it’s still important to be kind and to trust and acknowledge kindness in others, as this is one of the only ways people (and animals) can improve their lives.

First, the novel makes it clear that a cynical outlook can sometimes be a way for beings to protect themselves from emotional pain. Ivan, for instance, is willing to promise Stella on her deathbed that he’ll look out for Ruby and try to give her a better life. But later, as Bob (a stray dog) asks Ivan what he’s going to do to make this happen, Ivan insists that saving Ruby is impossible. For Ivan, it seems easier to cope with the emotional pain of giving up without trying than to deal with the pain of trying and potentially failing to save her. This also means that Ivan isn’t going to get Ruby’s hopes up too much and disappoint her when he believes he’ll ultimately fail, something that he frames as a kindness to her. Bob also engages in a similar thought process: he insists that humans are, on the whole, horrible beings who do terrible things to animals. This stems from the fact that Bob and his siblings were tossed onto the freeway when they were tiny puppies—in Bob’s experience, humans aren’t good or capable of kindness at all, and he avoids them whenever possible.

However, the novel also shows that humans can be “unpredictable,” as Stella says—their kindness can sometimes be surprising. Ruby, for her part, firmly believes that there are both good and bad humans in the world. Bad humans killed her family and captured her from the wild—but good humans saved her from a hole where she would’ve died without their help. When she tells the story of the humans rescuing her from the hole to Ivan and Bob, Bob is very surprised to hear that humans were willing to do anything nice for an animal. It’s this idea that human kindness is sometimes “unpredictable” that inspires Ivan to finally try to help Ruby. He decides to create a giant painting meant to be displayed on the highway billboard, depicting Ruby at the local zoo instead of at the mall. This is a major leap of faith for Ivan—he not only has to trust that the mall cleaner’s daughter and fellow artist Julia will be able to understand what he’s created and why, but he also has to trust that strangers will see the billboard, interpret it correctly, and work toward getting Ruby into a zoo.

The zoo itself is the biggest indication that many human beings do care about animal welfare. Prior to her death, Stella describes good zoos as places where “humans make amends.” With this, she implies that it’s more or less common knowledge that some humans do terrible things to animals—and that some humans see it as their responsibility to make up for what their fellows have done. It’s a symbol, in this sense, of humans’ ability to show animals kindness. But this doesn’t mean that this kindness is easy to accept—indeed, both Ruby and Ivan struggle greatly with the choice to get into the shipping crates that they know will take them to the zoo. Though they both know the boxes are their way out of the mall, Ivan’s twin sister, Tag, died in front of his eyes the last time he was in a crate. And Ruby doesn’t want to leave the mall, Ivan, and Bob, even if her life at the mall is confined and unhappy. So, accepting humans’ kindness, especially after experiencing so much abuse and neglect, is something the novel frames as being very difficult. But accepting this kindness, the novel shows, is the only way Ruby and Ivan will ever be able to improve their situation. Moving to the zoo allows Ruby to find a new family of fellow elephants, and it allows Ivan to take his place as a silverback in a gorilla family at the zoo. These happy outcomes, the novel suggests, wouldn’t have happened had Ivan and Ruby not been willing to accept the kindness that humans offered them. With this, the novel suggests that kindness is a two-way street. It’s not enough for one party to show kindness to another—in order for change to happen, it’s necessary to accept that kindness and trust that it’s genuine.