With Gorilla Gone, Is There Hope For Man? (Post 5)

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. Bantam Books, 211-263. 2017.

Summary

(52 Pages)

At the end of the last section, Alan asked Ishmael to tell him the story of the Leavers since they had already discovered the story of the Takers. Ishmael asks Alan why he wants to know the story and is not satisfied that Alan is only learning out of curiosity. Eventually, Alan says that he wants to know the story so that he can start building a life with the Leavers’ culture as a guideline. Ishmael likes this answer better and after a long discussion, the two decide that Leavers live in the hands of God. The next night, Alan and Ishmael talk about how Leavers are continuing to evolve with all the other animals on Earth, but Takers are not evolving because they do not follow natural selection. By this logic, other animals will eventually catch up to man in terms of intelligence and that man should stop seeing itself as rulers, but as teachers to the other animals. For their final discussion, Ishmael draws the whole talk back to the idea that man is imprisoned by their ways. When Alan goes to see Ishmael the next day, he discovers that the gorilla had died from pneumonia.

Character Chart

Fry Readability Graph

1.  Page 158
   1. Number of syllables-130
   2. Number of sentences- 4
2. Page 94
   1. Number of syllables- 157
   2. Number of sentences- 5
3. Page 197
   1. Number of syllables- 135
   2. Number of sentences- 6
4. Average
   1. Number of syllables- 141
   2. Number of sentences- 5

The reading level for this novel was about 9th grade or for a person who is 14 years old. I was surprised by this number because the book is somewhat of a hard read. The author purposely chooses words with double meaning so that the reader is forced to look into the deeper meaning behind his words. Also, the themes in this novel seem like they may go over most 14 year old’s heads. The book is all about looking at the world from a different point of view, and I think that many 9th graders would not fully appreciate this concept. I think that this book would be more appropriate for adults because they would understand the content better.

Rate the Work

I thought that Ishmael was an amazing book. Quinn’s writing style was somewhat confusing, but I believe that this was done on purpose so that each individual reader can go on a journey of their own and discover the meaning behind the novel on their own. The book was very interesting and though there was not a lot of action, it held the readers attention by making them think. I was not the biggest fan of the ending because it does not really tell you what happens to Alan. However, there are two other books in the series, so some closure may be found in those books. All in all, I would recommend this book to someone who likes to read, but I would not recommend just reading it for fun as it can be somewhat frustrating try to decipher exactly what the author is wanting you to learn.

Citation

Cobb, Alexandria M. “Ishmael” WordPress.com, 18 Nov. 2017, https://cobbghose2novel.wordpress.com/.

 

The Fall (Post 4)

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. Bantam Books, 148-207. 2017.

Summary

(59 pages)

As soon as Alan walks into Ishmael’s office, he notices that Ishmael is no longer behind glass, but is sitting on cushions opposite of where Alan normally sits. Ishmael immediately tells a lengthy story of how the gods gained their knowledge. Basically, the gods were arguing about what is right and what is wrong in terms of how things live. They felt bad that any living thing was forced to die in order for other living things to live. In the end, the gods decided to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which would give them the divine knowledge to know who should live and who should die at what times. Ishmael asks Alan why the gods would forbid humans from eating from this tree and Alan is not able to come up with an explanation. Ishmael explains that he cannot come up with an answer because he is always looking at things from a Taker perspective. If you look at it from a Leaver perspective, you see that the Fall occurred when humans discovered agriculture because they forced this lifestyle on all the Leavers. The Leaver do not believe that they are part of the Fall because God continues to provide from them from his bounty, whereas the Takers are forced to toil for their food.

After Ishmael and Alan’d talk, Alan gets sidetracked with work, a visiting relative, and a medical emergency. When he finally f=goes back to continue his lessons, he finds that Ishmael has been evicted. After searching for Ishmael for a few weeks, he decides to try and find the Sokolow residence and see if they know anything about Ishmael’s whereabouts. He talks to the butler named Partridge who informers him that he does not know where Ishmael is and that Rachel had died three months before. This makes sense because it means that Rachel was not paying Ishmael’s bills which would cause him to be evicted. Eventually, Alan tracks down Ishmael to a traveling carnival about two hours from his house. Ishmael and Alan spend time alone after everyone leaves and talk about what the difference in Taker and Leaver cultures are. They decide that Leaver possess a cumulative knowledge that has been passed down from the first humans whereas Takers redefine culture with each new generation. Takers tell each generation ways to better produce things but Leavers pass down ways to live well for a certain culture.

Character Chart

Character Commentary

Ishmael

Ishmael is my favorite character because he is so wise. Ishmael does not see himself as an underdog despite the fact that he is a gorilla that does not fit in with gorillas or with humans. Instead, he takes advantage of the situation by taking his knowledge of the animal world and applying it to the human world. He teaches people about how they came to be the way they are and challenges them to change in order to save the world. Ishmael is patient and does not blatantly give away the answer, but instead allows Alan to make the journey to the answer so that he understands the full impact of his ideas.

Alan

Alan is very pretentious and only has interest in himself. He only chooses to stay around Ishmael because he wants to be able to seem smarter in front of others. I do not feel that Alan wants to help the world, he just wants to be able to brag and belittle others who do not possess the knowledge that he has. Alan puts no effort into his lessons with Alan because he wants to be spoon-fed the answers. This is shown when Ishmael tells Alan he can’t get mad Alan at not knowing the answer, but that he must request that Alan at least try to answer his questions with a little bit of thought.

Themes

Superiority

On of the main themes of the book is how evolution has played a role in shaping the world. Ishmael is teaching Alan that since humans have discovered agriculture, they feel that they are above all the other living things in the world. Humans believe that they are the end of the evolutionary line since they are able to think and create. Humans have a mindset that since they are human, they are exempt from evolution. However, since humans have this superiority complex, they are doomed to kill themselves and the world. Since humans see the world and all its processes as their own, they are not considerate about how others are affected.

Religion

Religion is a central theme in the book since it is a central theme in Taker culture. Ishmael is constantly relating topics back to the bible since that is what most of the developed world is familiar with. Even though Alan is not religious, he knows the main stories in the Bible and these stories have shaped the way that he sees the world. For example, Alan believes that humans are basically on equal standing with the gods since they have more knowledge than all other living things. Religion affects the way that the leavers see their lives as well. They believe that they are the chosen people in a way because God continues to provide for them.

Citation

Cobb, Alexandria M. “Ishmael” WordPress.com, 18 Nov. 2017, wordpress.com/page/cobbghose2novel.wordpress.com/7.

Peace Keeping Laws (Post 3)

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. Bantam Books, 1-42. 2017.             (48 pages)

Summary

Now that Alan has discovered that man follows mythology, Ishmael has challenged him to find out what laws men follow. At first, Alan thinks that Ishmael is speaking of laws created by the government, but the gorilla tells Alan that he is speaking of laws such as gravity and aerodynamics. Alan is still confused by this, so Ishmael explains that all living things must follow the same laws, but that man has deviated from these basic laws. He tells Alan that before humans started advancing, the world lived in peace because all the animals had a mutual agreement to eat when hungry and only attack others if they are impeding on your land. Alan leaves Ishmael’s office and returns four days later claiming that he has discovered the three laws that all living things, excluding humans, follow.

1. Do not exterminate your competition for food. This means that animals only kill in order to eat. Animals do not kill their competition in order to ensure their next meal. For example, lions have no intention of killing all of the jaguars in order to ensure that there are more zebras for the lions.
2. Do not kill your competitors’ food supply in order to ensure your own. In other words, animals take what they need and leave the rest alone.
3. Do not deny food for others. Animals follow the idea that they can protect what they are eating, but they cannot lay claim to others food. For example, a lion can claim the zebra he kills, but he cannot claim all zebras.

Since all of Alan’s laws pertained to food, Ishmael and Alan start talking about how food affects population growth. The two agree that as food supplies increase, the population increases. However, they both believe that the Earth cannot support this and that talks of contraceptives never actually pan out. By the end of the chapter, Alan realizes that humans are at war with the Earth in the sense that they feel that the Earth owes them when in reality, human kind owes the Earth.

Character Chart

     

Author’s Web page

http://www.ishmael.org/origins/DQ/

Daniel Quinn’s webpage is a tool used so that any person who enjoys his books can talk about what they read. The main page of the site gives readers a look into Quinn’s life by giving a brief biography and a quick summary of his most popular books. From there, readers can click the “What’s New” link to find a list of articles and websites dedicated to each of his books. From this same page, Quinn gives links to websites relating to his books where readers can learn more about the concepts discussed in the books. Quinn also has an announcement page where he tells readers if he is having any speaking events. Finally, the author has a page dedicated to book recommendations.

Time Period

Daniel Quinn was born in 1935 in Omaha, Nebraska. When Quinn was a child, people did not think about the environment as much as we do today. As he grew up, people started to see the extinction of more animals which set people to thinking about how humans affect the world. Quinn saw the Environmental Protection Agency created in the 1970s and was likely part of the counter culture during this time. Quinn was most likely influenced by the counter culture because Ishmael essentially revolves around the idea that men need to re-evaluate how they treat the world and start living in harmony with Earth.

Author’s Citation

Cobb, Alexandria M. “Ishmael” WordPress.com, 18 Nov. 2017, wordpress.com/page/cobbghose2novel.wordpress.com/7.

Beginning, Middle, and End (Post 2)

Author’s Biography

http://www.ishmael.org/origins/DQ/

Summary

Pages 42 through 91 followed Alan and Ishmael discussing modern day mythology. Ishmael tells Alan to find his cultures’ mythology, but Alan is confused as to what he is suppose to be looking for. Alan does not believe that modern day humans follow any kind of mythology.  This frustrates Ishmael, so he rephrases his request. He tells Alan to tell him the story of man as humans see it. At this point, Alan tells Ishmael that after the big band, the universe was created and among our solar system there was one planet that could sustain life. As single cell organisms evolved into more complex creates, man came to be the smartest of all the species. Men learned to support themselves through farming and technology and eventually reached the point in time that we live in today. Ishmael tells Alan that his story sounds like mythology, but that Alan has only told the beginning and middle of the story. When prompted to tell the end of the story, Alan tell his teacher that humans will either learn to control the environment and all its elements, or we will kill ourselves and the planet trying to reach this goal. The pair go on to discuss why man would ever hurt the only thing giving them life. Alan concludes that men have a fundamental flaw where we see the Earth as belonging to man rather than man belonging to the Earth.

Character Chart

Setting

The map above shows all the places that Ishmael has lived during the novel. Even thought these locations were mentioned in the book, they are not necessarily the setting. The true setting of the novel is in an office building in an unknown location in the United States. This is where Alan and Ishmael have their discussions. The office building is very plain and the room is mostly bare. The only distinguishing factor of the office is that one wall is made of glass and Ishmael sits behind this barrier.

Favorite Character

Ishmael is my favorite character in the book so far. He is very humble even though he is far smarter than every person he comes into contact with. Even though Ishmael is a gorilla, he learned to communicate with others and even surpassed Walter in their studies. Ishmael is far smarter than Alan, but he never tries to make Alan feel inferior. He is always patient and tries to allow Alan to reach conclusions on his own. Ishmael is a protagonist in the story because the book revolves around the knowledge he has of the world. Even though the story is told through Alan’s eyes, Ishmael is still the protagonist because he is the main and title character. Ishmael is a round character because he has developed during the story. In the beginning, Ishmael was a lonely gorilla who had no motivation to learn. He would sit at the zoo all day and not interact with the other primates or with the human visitors. However, by this point in the book, Ishmael is smarter than any other person and even seeks companionship as demonstrated through his newspaper ad. Ishmael is also a leader. He guides Alan through their discussions and has helped Alan develop his way of thinking.

Citation

Cobb, Alexandria M. “Ishmael” WordPress.com, 18 Nov. 2017, wordpress.com/page/cobbghose2novel.wordpress.com/7.