Ishmael

Ishmael-


The story about modern society and the impacts humankind have had on the planet, brought out in Ishmael were both completely provocative and original and a reaffirmation of things that I’ve been told since I was a child. One of the most compelling and mind opening concepts behind this novel is that fact that on a daily basis humans come into contact with problems in the environment or the world and yet take no notice. As Ishmael described it, the problems of Mother Culture are humming in the sounds of everyday life, but we have been taught to ignore or be blind to these problems. Not only that, but the magnitude in which humanity (or at least the “Takers”) take for granted the bounties of the Earth and squander it as if it were everlasting is astonishing and yet Ishmael explains that this is because we as humans (or conquerors of the planet) have been taught to see these changes as inevitable.

“Yes. I no longer think of what we’re doing as a blunder. We’re not destroying the world because we’re clumsy. We’re destroying the world because we are, in a very literal and deliberate way, at war with it.”(pg. 130) Here Quinn depicts the habit of humankind to blame the problems of the world on the fact that humans are said to be inherently flawed. Instead of taking any responsibility for our actions, we as a society (because of Mother Culture’s teachings) explain our own short-comings or failures as inevitable. Global-warming, pollution, and the extinction of various species are all simply results of humanity’s inability to not cause destruction. People are pacified by this because of phrases like “to err is to be human.” This both explains our short-comings and lets us off the hook. If we have no choice but to make mistakes, then why fix what we know we were right in doing since we are human and doomed to “mess things up.”

In his teachings Ishmael goes on to explain the break down of “civilized” society. He explains that drug addiction, suicide, crime, mental illness, and a myriad of other things are all a result of the Taker society and the story Takers have been enacting. The Leaver society on the other hand rarely has these occurrences because of the different story they enact. This leaves the reader to believe that this modern-day “paradise” we as a society have created for ourselves is really nothing more than a disaster. Paradise in this sense is a doomed creature, infected with a disease (in this case its inhabitants) that is working systematically and routinely to destroy it piece by piece. Though it can be said that those causing this “infection” were somewhat ignorant of their effects on the world, that can hardly be said today. Those who are still ignorant of the effects civilization has had on the world and the society at large, choose to be ignorant and choose to live behind the mantra “humanity is inherently flawed and there is nothing and should be nothing that can be done about it.”

The idea of the story then becomes very central to Ishmael’s teachings because it explains human behavior, or more appropriately why Takers believe they are meant to act a certain way and why any deviation from that is unacceptable. What is most interesting about the story is that it pertains to the laws of nature, the laws that universally govern all creatures, but which humans (the Takers in particular) feel they are above or do not apply to them. Ishmael explains in basic scientific terms how it is all too apparent that Takers do not believe that the laws of nature and competition. While the ways in which various societies and cultures resist this law is different it always has the same result. The planet suffers because of the selfishness and conceited nature of humankind. Though many of the acts performed by humans are for preservation or are “humanitarian” these acts are ultimately cause a cataclysmic destruction. Furthermore there are texts and teachings within these Taker societies that then not only explain, but justify and in some ways welcome this destruction as the final stage. Ishmael points out the Christian teachings which speak of the time when destruction will rain down upon the Earth, which then certain Takers within society use as an explanation for things like global warming and pollution. But whether or not one believes that, what Ishmael and Daniel Quinn are ultimately trying to say is that Mother Culture is not only allowing, but dictates that humans do is to routinely destroy the planet, tax the Earth’s resources, and feel that these things are just another part of human nature.