Essay about Ishmael The Narrator In Ishmael

1. Essay about Ishmael
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...show more content...
The Leavers do not exempt themselves from the laws of competition while the Takers do. The
Takers, in exempting themselves from these laws, exterminate and remove all forms of competition
in their way. In a lesson where the narrator role–plays as a Taker trying to convince Ishmael, a
Leaver, to live his life–style (p222) he comes upon the conclusion that being human is living on
your own terms rather than the gods' and this is what separates us from the animals (p225). It is
Mother Culture who teaches this since the day we're born (p37), that we should live on our own
terms rather than the gods' and that we know good and evil and evil is living by chance. Thus, Takers
are on a quest to find the one right way to do things and hence all our laws and such contrivances
come into being. Controlling the world and the universe is the primary goal of the Takers so they
no longer have to live in any sort of fear and as such they are a culture of the new whereas the
Leavers are a culture of tradition (p205). Quinn relates "culture" to a mother because of its nurturing
qualities and "among Leaver peoples, Mother Culture explains and preserves a life–style that is
healthy and self–sustaining. Among Taker peoples she explains and preserves a life–style that has
proven to be unhealthy and self–destructive" (p148). That explanation is what sets the two groups in
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2. The Narrator In Ishmael
Have you ever desired to save the world? That's what the narrator in "Ishmael" wanted to do when
he was younger. The narrator was searching for a teacher and he found one decades later in an
unexpected form in a strange place. Upon finding an ad in the paper for a teacher seeking pupils, the
narrator curiously decides to check out this supposed guru bent on preaching love and acceptance to
the world. When he arrives at a run–of–the–mill office building, the narrator is confused,but they are
even more startled to find that beyond a pane of glass in an otherwise empty room sits a gorilla.
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