First, we will be reading the book in Portuguese. We have already read it in Bulgarian a few years ago. As the children are older we will focus on the deep truths and messages embedded in the book. I will be updating this page with our progress and our discussions as they arrive.Before we began, since we are already familiar with the story, and since the kids are already discussing the book in school I decided to start with real images:
Video of Ivan from the shopping mall and Ivan after being rescued, at the zoo
If you watch the video you will hear that Ivan was bought in the 60s from Belgium's Congo. This immediately screamed to me the three things listed below. Today I only briefly mentioned only Dian Fossey's work with gorillas in Rwanda but we will cover all three topics in the next few days.- King Leopold of Belgium, and his reign in Congo, the Hitler you hardly hear about
- Dian Fossey and the mountain gorillas of Rwanda
- Current restless Congo and Crash course episode on Congo
The following are the notes from our reading and discussions on Monday, January 29, 2018:
- We focused on the meaning of the opening quote by George Eliot: "“Nunca é tarde demais para se tornaro que você poderia ter sido.” This is the thesis of the book. It is never later, despite all suffering, despite all injustice, to turn and embrace the real you, even if you never knew him.
- We discussed how people measure time and why they bother-we marvel at the great constructions and elaborate mazes that ancient societies have built in history class, but not in literature class. In ancient societies people measured time with respect to regularly occurring events on which their livelihood depended, similar to how animals in the wild are aware of the passage of time and the changes of seasons. I mentioned the ancient Egyptians, the Cahokia people whose life aligned with the lifecycle of corn, the Hopi whose life aligned with rain, the plain Indians whose life aligned with the the buffalo migrations, and the north-western Indians whose life aligned with the salmon and the whale migrations.
- “Com o passar dos anos, aprendi a entender as palavras humanas, mas entender o que os humanos dizem não é a mesma coisa que entender os humanos...Precisei de algum tempo para aprender a reconhecer todos esses sons humanos, para ligar as palavras em uma coisa só. Mas fui paciente.” We discussed how similar genetically apes are to humans, and how overtime humans have disproved much of their own misconceptions about these animals, and all living things. Since we are familiar with Jane Goodall I mentioned her pioneering observational studies with chimps in which she disproved the statement that what differentiates humans from apes is humans' ability to make and use tools. In the sentence above, Ivan makes the point that learning and understanding new tasks, and adapting are not exclusive to humans either.
- “Todos nós somos primos distantes e desconfiados...Sei que isso é problemático." This, of course is a reference to Darwin's theory of evolution and how hard its acceptance remains within the creationist groups. Fortunately or unfortunately our DNAs differ by just a little. Imagine how much smarter than us is the live form whose DNA is another 1% different from ours. I also brought in the inherent and wrong human assumption that humans are superior to all other life forms. As we study history we learn that throughout history europeans, in particular, have been making the assumption that "I as a member of my tribe am superior to all other tribes and their members"; this assumption grew into the exercise of genocide when unlike groups united against other unlike groups. One needs to call these events and label them properly as they are encountered in history, otherwise one can never learn to recognize them as they occur when they occur in real life.
- So where is that shopping mall? I-95 stretches along the east coast from Canada all the way to Florida. I explained, using this map, that the east-west routes are even (I-80 is a familiar example), and now I-95 is our north-south example. But Ivan actually lived in a mall in Tacoma Washington. So, there is a discrepancy. Why?
- Sense of humour: " Certa vez pude desfrutar de um livro que um dos meus cuidadores deixou em meu domínio. Tinha gosto de cupim.” Did we expect a sense a humour from a gorila?
The following is from the discussion on January 31, 2018
Hollywood has been a very racial institution from its very start. Over the years bad guys have emerged from all areas in which the american white had to be the good guy. Critical thinking dead, the american white supreme character reigned, it was expected and it was sought.
The One and Only Ivan:
Chapter: TV
Page: 50
Chapter: TV
Page: 50
Portuguese:
“Bob diz que os faroestes não se parecem em nada com a vida real.”
“Bob diz que os faroestes não se parecem em nada com a vida real.”
English (translation):
"Bob says that the westerns have nothing in common with real life"
"Bob says that the westerns have nothing in common with real life"
Hollywood has been a very racial institution from its very start. Over the years bad guys have emerged from all areas in which the american white had to be the good guy. Critical thinking dead, the american white supreme character reigned, it was expected and it was sought.
We started reading "Western Expansion" by Steve Sheinkin, in which it is revealed that cowboys were not white initially, they were primarily ranchers, and overall anything depicted in western films is baloney. This article helps too.
Critical Thinking. Critical Reading! Every sentence in Ivan is a bonanza to ponder and question. Think about it a dog (which is sometimes used as a derogatory term, but is also an animal humans view as their best friend) tells that to a gorilla, one of our closest relatives. This is an amazing sentence.
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