When Ivan Lost His Cool...

Exploring Emotions in The "One and Only Ivan" By Katherine Applegate. What Ivan’s Roar Taught Us About Anger.

We have known Ivan, the silverback gorilla, the hero of the book, as a gentle and kind soul. He is content with what he has. Things change when he makes a promise, which he has no idea how to keep. But a promise must be kept at any cost.

Days, weeks pass by as he contemplates what he can do to keep his promise. It's not easy but he eventually comes up with a plan. As readers, we had little clue what that could be. As we read further, layer after layer got revealed and we got a good idea of what the plan was.

But the plan fails. Miserably backfires. Ivan whom we have known as a gentle soul who can't possibly lose his temper ever, loses it. He screams, beating his chest, terrifying everyone around. A gorilla screaming can be quite terrifying. As readers, we worried that his anger would lead to a terrible disaster. We could imagine how his loss of temper could lead to irreparable damage.

At this point, the discussion took an interesting turn with the readers making connections to their own experiences. One reader shared how he was able to relate to how Ivan was feeling, seeing that no one could understand what he was trying to convey. Another reader described an experience in which his friend lost his cool while playing a game of chess as the opponent cheated. The friend ended up smashing a pawn piece that narrowly missed the other child's face as he managed to dodge just in time. The pawn piece hit the wall instead. "It was horrifying. The other player could have got hurt badly. Also, I could have been hurt too had his aim gone amiss." Silence followed soon after in the group. It felt almost as if they were processing this scene and understanding how anger although a natural emotion can be so harmful!

Returning to the book, we read that Ivan eventually regains his cool. It almost felt like he is self aware and knows that he must not let anger control him. That will not work in his favor and worse, he will not be able to keep his promise.

The readers witnessed a character unleash his emotion for a perfectly valid reason. His carefully crafted plans that took weeks, failed miserably. His frustration and disappointment in himself got the better of him. They also witnessed how the character managed to control his emotions and eventually cool down without causing anyone any harm. After all, unleashing his anger would not have helped him keep is promise. He had to think of another way or perhaps he had to be patient. Perhaps things will change in his favor?

The session ended on that note.

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At Talking Circles, we try to get into depth of every book we read together. We exchange views, learn to respect one another, disagree politely, all in the spirit of supporting one another and learning more together. Stay tuned for our blogposts on what we talk about and our reading experiences! Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

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