Ishmael
Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael is the story of one man’s quest for knowledge and his desire to “save the world”. Answering a simple ad in the paper of a teacher looking for students (p4), the narrator is sent on an incredible philosophical journey. The teacher our narrator expects is not that which he finds, however, as our titular character Ishmael, so aptly named by Walter Sokolow (p18) as he sensed the gorilla’s almost divine presence, is that teacher. This teaching is made possible by Ishmael’s miraculous telepathic way of communication (p21).
Ishmael’s name, originally Goliath due his size and presumed demeanor (p14), I find incredibly fitting as he, like Abraham’s eldest son, appears to be sent from the heavens though in this case to save us from ourselves. I view Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael as more along the lines of the Islamic theology’s in that he is more of a prophetic character rather than the Jewish theology’s in which he is generally viewed as wicked though repentant (although it was a Jew who named him so that may make my view invalid). His divine nature and importance are most powerfully demonstrated by a few simple lines on a poster that the narrator finds in a pile upon Ishmael’s death. The question on the opposing side of said poster “WITH GORILLA GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR MAN?” (p263) is entirely reasonable as his teachings throughout the book make that question apparent in our own minds before it is ever even discovered.
Two primary components Ishmael’s lessons involve are the concepts of the “Leavers” and “Takers” (p38). The two terms are used as synonyms for primitive and civilized (p39) groups, respectively, where we, and all developed nations, along with Ishmael’s pupil are the Takers while nativ...
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...past 48 years. Over that same time period, however, the world population has doubled. This finding gives credence to Ishmael’s statement. But how do we stop this increase in production along with our other multitude of problems? Ishmael says, “You do it the same way you stop destroying the ozone layer, the same way you stop cutting down the rain forests. If the will is there, the method will be found” (p140). As much as the impact of greenhouse gases and the like are debated in our society, there’s no question that we are making the world a less and less livable place due to our destruction of various ecologies. That those debates are taking place at all shows that there is an interest, that there is a will, to remove ourselves from the path to self-destruction. And so the question remains, “WITH GORILLA GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR MAN?” I certainly think so.
The book is based on actual events and is expressed through a personal point of view. Ishmael wrote a memoir that tells the story of a young boy who is torn from his peaceful life, and then forced into a frightening world of drugs and slavery. In writing about his experiences, he has made the decision to present his experiences in a particular way by missing out details and recounting others. This along with the language used and the order, in which the events are disclosed, all serve to create a particular interpretation and to guide the reader to respond in a particular way.
...ircumstances as he did, believe that revenge is not good and it keeps on going if no one stops the process. Overall, Ishmael eventually learned that revenge does not solve anything and seeking revenge just results in a longer war sustained by the counterproductive concept of vengeance. Additionally, Ishmael learned that by constantly thinking about his culpability, he was just bringing more harm to himself and in the process was unable to create any progress in his own life. Ishmael eventually realized that merely reflecting on his actions did not do anything and to fix and prevent the problems he faced, he would have to take initiative to reach out to the people who could help. By utilizing the idea of forgiveness, Ishmael learned that he could let go of the huge mountain of stress that was bringing him down and prevented him from overcoming the effects of the war.
Ishmael Beah’s first transition on his approach to family began with a strong sense of hope. Consequently, after the separation of his mother, father, and older brother his life completely changed. When he began to take his journey Beah hoped to find his family and survive the war together. In his memoir, Beah demonstrated the idea of hope when he came across a childhood memory that impacted his life. As he walked alone in the forest Beah remembered his father’s significant words of advice that motivated him to find hope and purpose. With this idea in mind, his father once said, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen” (2007, P. 54). For Ishmael, his father, mother, and
Ishmael starts his journey with a will to escape and survive the civil war of Sierra Leone in order to reunite with his mom, dad, and younger siblings, who fled their home when his village was attacked by rebels. Having only his older brother, who he escaped with, and a few friends by his side Ishmael is scared, but hopeful. When the brothers are captured by rebels, Ishmael’s belief in survival is small, as indicated by his fallible survival tactics when he “could hear the gunshots coming closer…[and] began to crawl farther into the bushes” (Beah 35). Ishmael wants to survive, but has little faith that he can. He is attempting to survive by hiding wherever he can- even where the rebels can easily find him. After escaping, Ishmael runs into a villager from his home tells him news on the whereabouts of his family. His optimism is high when the villager, Gasemu, tells Ishmael, “Your parents and brothers wil...
Most people who Ishmael came in contact with and himself, had a conflict between trust and survival. This conflict became an effect of the war in which many people suffered because they chose to live over a possible death. Beah retells his traumatic experience that gives countless situations where survival is picked over trust. In a world without war trust and survival can be
As a result of not receiving help when the bull was attacking him, Grendel develops a new theory: “I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly—as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the universe, blink by blink” (Gardner 21-22). Grendel’s questioning of his way of living marks a transformation of Grendel into a mature character who gains knowledge from his experience with the bull, concluding that the world revolves only around him. The utilization of ‘I’ portrays that his growing isolation from the absence of his mother during the bull attack is what permits him to believe that he is superior to everyone else and the only worthy creature to exist. This foreshadows his ultimate purpose in life which is to kill mankind. Grendel, as the creator of the world, holds the ultimate power to decide who will live, lacking the perspective that there is a higher force other than himself. In other words, the experience Grendel acquires from the bull attack enables him to mature and obtain insight on the truth of his
Ishmael’s search for revenge ended when he was taken out of the front lines of the war by
...oss Laura Simms, a narrator and his forthcoming foster mom, and understands the significance of sharing his practice with the world in expectations of avoiding such terrors from happening to other youngsters and to other parts of the world. (chapter 20).Afterwards Ishmael revenues to Freetown, Sierra Leon, a rebellion by the RUF and the Soldierly outs the non-combatant government, and the warfare Ishmael has been escaping from catches up with him. After his uncle’s passing, Ishmael escapes Sierra Leon for nearby Guinea and finally makes his tactic to his different lifetime in the United States (chapter 21).
As time passes, our population continues to increase and multiply; yet, on the other hand, our planet’s resources continue to decrease and deplete. As our population flourishes, human beings also increase their demands and clamor for the Earth’s natural products, yet are unable to sacrifice their surplus of the said resources. Garret Hardin’s work highlighted the reality that humans fail to remember that the Earth is finite and its resources are limited. Hardin’s article revealed that people are unable to fathom that we indeed have a moral obligation to our community and our natural habitat — that we are not our planet’s conquerors but its protectors. We fail to acknowledge and accept that we only have one Earth and that we must protect and treasure it at all costs. Despite all our attempts at annihilating the planet, the Earth will still be unrelenting — it will still continue to be present and powerful. Human beings must recognize that we need this planet more than it needs us and if we persist on being egocentric and covetous, in the end it is us who will
The majority of this piece is dedicated to the author stating his opinion in regards to civilization expanding beyond its sustainable limits. The author makes it clear that he believes that humans have failed the natural environment and are in the process of eliminating all traces of wilderness from the planet. Nash points out facts that strengthen his argument, and quotes famous theologians on their similar views on environmental issues and policies. The combination of these facts and quotes validates the author’s opinion.
Clive Ponting's The Green History of the World and Daniel Quinn's Ishmael both critique the dominant paradigms of modern human civilization-especially where its relationship with environment is concerned. Both feel strongly that we are in trouble. Neither are quite willing to make final connections and present us with a systematic method for getting out of our impending ecological crisis, but they both do spell out what has been wrong, what is wrong now, and what will happen should we choose not to take evasive action.
In the novel Ishmael, Daniel Quinn expresses his viewpoints of the human race through the telepathic discussions between the unnamed narrator and a gorilla named Ishmael. Through these conversations Ishmael is able to help the narrator understand the nature of things, focusing on answering the question “why are things the way that they are?” As the two characters continue to meet, the narrator is able to grasp the concepts presented by Ishmael which give him a different view of humans, or as Ishmael refers to his culture. Quinn explains the unhealthy relationship humans have with the Earth and how their way of life has negatively impacted it. Throughout the the story of Ishmael, Daniel Quinn draws attention to the concept of captivity, culture,
In language of the sort one might expect from a well educated man speaking with a friend, Ishmael told Quinn the story of his life. A large portion of it was spent in captivity, before a wealthy elderly man befriended and educated him. At the end of Ishmael's tale, Quinn was still somewhat befuddled.
This quotation opens your eyes, I know of no one who wants to destroy the earth either. The majority of man kind doesn’t think too much about what is happening to the earth due to their actions. When most of us drive a car or spray deodorant we don’t think of the consequences. It is the responsibility of those who create problems to help fix them and prevent them from happening again. In society today it i...
“The worst threat to man is man himself.” These words, from the recent publication The Great Pearl of Wisdom, are from the open mind of Bangambiki Habyarimana, a man known for his work in the fight against HIV and AIDS. His blatant, cut and dry point of view is a very simple way of stating that humanity has the power to destroy itself, whether directly or indirectly. Indirectly, the human race may bring upon its own doom through the destruction and degradation of its caregiver, provider, and home: the Earth. One of the biggest issues in the modern world is climate change, which is directly related to carbon dioxide emissions and the greenhouse effect. The greatest contributor of CO₂ emissions is the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and