#3 Stella Gone...

 Stella sadly died and everything changed. Ivan didn't know how to take care of Ruby and acomplish the promise he had done to her great friend, Stella. Ruby was really sad about her aunt Stella's death and couldn't sleep so she asked Ivan to tell her a story. Ivan then remembered about his childhood and told Ruby everything he remembered. When Ivan finished, he was determined to help Ruby by taking care of her and taking her to the zoo where she would have a better life than Stella.

 " It didn't take long for my parents to find my name. All day long , every day, I made pictures. I drew on rocks and bark and my poor mother's back.

I used the sap from leaves. I used the juice from fruit.

 But mostly I used mud.

And that is what they  called me: Mud.

To a human, Mud might not sound like much. But to me, it was everything"(Applegate 125).

This quote shows us that sometimes, the things that mean nothing to someone, mean much more to someone else. I think that next, in the book, Ivan will show Ruby about lots of things in his childhood that where similar to what  Ruby had gone throught. The baby elephant, Ruby  had gone to alike circumstances as Ivan when he was a baby. This would help Ruby be in a better mood.

"Mack grew sullen.  I grew bigger. I became what I was meant to be,  too large for chairs,  too strong for hugs, too big for a human life" (Applegate 142). This quote shows us that you are who you are and that animals that are meant to be free can't be domesticated. Mack tried to domesticate Ivan when he was a baby. Back then, Ivan slept in bed, went to restaurants and even lived in a house with Mack and his ex-wife. But time went on, and Ivan became an adult so then, he had to be taken to a cage in the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.

Summing up, this chapters influence the development of the story. I think his is the biggest change in the book. Ivan is now in charge of Ruby and it's a great responsibility. Things are changing all arround the book. Some changes may be good and some can be bad.