Daniel Quinn's Ishmael: Can Humans Dominate The Planet?

Can man survive without the resources our planet offers? Conversely, can the planet survive without man? If we, as a society, acknowledge that man is at the top of the food chain, and that we are the chosen ones to rule over the land, will this be to our detriment? Is it possible that humans could become extinct if we dominate the planet?

In Daniel Quinn’s novel, Ishmael, Quinn introduces us to a highly intelligent West African gorilla named Ishmael who seeks to teach humanity everything he knows about how we as a culture are destroying this planet through his understanding of captivity. Ishmael posts a newspaper ad which reads, “TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person” (Quinn, p. 4). This leads

At a zoo, held captive in a cage, he no longer felt like he belonged to any one group even with other gorillas on display. For years he studied the people who came to gawk at him in an effort to understand his new world better. With the help of Walter Sokolow, an old man who was held captive during his youth in Nazi Germany, he rescues Ishmael from the bars of his cage and helps to further his understanding of captivity and why humans live the way they do, eventually coming up with an alternative to teach us “Takers” how to possibly stop the cycle. Our narrator, confused by the relationship of captivity to saving the world, inquires further thus learning that we are captives of our civilized system and societal norms, and in order to keep up with the demands we have set for ourselves, we are destroying the world of everything it has to offer. We are, in essence, holding Earth captive until it gives us everything it can to satiate us and until we find the bars of our cage and break free from how we think about the planet, we will continue to do as we have done for centuries which could ultimately drive mankind to