Daniel Quinn's Ishmael Essay Example

One can think that the novel is about Islam because of its title. However, the truth is that Ismael is that this is a Socratic dialogue that is presented as a novel (DeKay and Mark, 46). The main theme of the novel is a contrast between the two cultures. Which the author terms as the taker as well as the Leavers. Ismael in this novel presents the; Bushmen of Africa, Kreen-Akrore of Brazil, Alawa of Australia as well as the Navajo of the United States as the Leaver societies. On the other hand, Ismael presents; the takers as the modern civilization. The world is being destroyed by the Takers but the Leavers are on the right track. This is the thesis of the novel. However, if Ismael could have stated this thesis earlier, and defend through some philosophical argumentation, the fact is that he could have been ignored. This thesis is not new but most people have a feeling that they already know it and according to them it is wrong. The good thing about Ismael is that he has used a Socratic method that opens the reader's method as they read the novel, it makes them see their blind spots as well as the prejudices. Therefore, this makes the readers question a lot of things that they have actually taken for granted most of the time. The first one-third of the novel is actually the best. This is where the author welcomes the students to give a description of a mythology of his own culture. The author requires that the students, to begin with, creation in their description. However, the students are of the opinion that, modern advancement is independent of tradition and it has no formation fable but a technical explanation of its origin and the object it on those grounds.

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Despite the fact that, the students objected the author did not stop there, he insisted that they should give an account on how things came to be the way they are (Drake and Ian, 576). The author says that the students' minds are full of evolution theory, but he says that the climax of the description of the same man appears as the main creature. Because of this, the creation of man becomes mythological since science in itself does not point out that man is the main focus of creation in any way. Up to this point, all experts of biology can testify that most of their students have a false notion that, man is given a special place by evolution theory, this notion has really got into them to an extent that it is very hard to get rid of it from their minds. Most of the literature on biology will tell you that man is more advanced than the bacteria, but the truth is that the bacteria are more advanced and well adapted to numerous environments including in and out of our bodies. The most serious part of the story of bacteria is that without them we cannot survive. Therefore, we can all agree that the hypothesis that says that, a man was made to rule the world and the world was made for him. However, the people who believe in this hypothesis on the account of being purely scientific are actually deceiving themselves.

The fact that, man was created to change the world into a paradise, unfortunately, man was created with defects that hindered him from making the world paradise and therefore what has happened instead is that what was meant to paradise has since been destroyed by greed as well stupidity together with the destructive mind of man and shortsightedness. This is the main idea of Taker mythology. The author at this point makes a step that is very important and points out that, the fact that the takers have realized that, there is no scientific method that can point out on how people ought to live, they have then decided to blame their troubles on the inborn fault. They think that people should rely on the prophets so that they can tell them on the best way to live. The author points out that, there is no Taker who has made an effort to try and look at the world more keenly to see if they can discover a way that they ought to live (Narvaez and Darcia, 258). This sounds so strange and surprising, more so because this is the main problem that man is supposed to solve, and he has tried over time to solve but in vain. This makes some individuals think that there could be an entire branch that is fully dedicated to this. However, it is surprising that no one has ever imagined that, such knowledge is out there and it actually needs to be obtained.

There is a harmonious relationship between man and the earth. This is actually true right from the time of Homo sapiens who took almost 90% of their entire time to gather wild plants as well as hunting the wild and animals and this was actually their life. However, this way of capturing energy never interfered with the way the gene pool of resources was exploited and therefore people were able to survive through a lot of dry periods and they were able to grow in numbers tremendously. It was not possible for them to accumulate possessions since they led a mobile life where they kept on moving from one place to other. They used to share whatever they had and this promoted unity as well as love among themselves, on the other hand, they also discouraged some things like self-promotion. Although farming emerged on the earth like 10,000-15,000 years ago it spread out on earth very fast more than foraging as well as hunting. Although the earth of domesticating wild plants and animals reduced the speed of energy gathering, it promoted the long-term population growth. The energy gathered in an acre of land was increasing and it was able to feed a lot of people but on the other hand, it also required constant labor to go back to the field to cultivate the fields and plant the crops. Men were mainly the source of labor as women were left at home to carry out some duties like taking care of the babies and preparing food for the men.

This society required a constant division of labor as activities were getting more and more every day. Later on, a ruling class emerged, some individuals became leaders of violence and control resources and become political leaders (Hart and Donna, 288). The world that, the Homo sapiens were determined to develop into being their paradise was altered all over and the large societies' activities were coordinated by the coalition of elites. Things like tax collection, law enforcement, rituals, suppression of things like wars. As things changed gradually a good number of individuals were slaves. Political and economic inequality become rooted around 1 BC. The division of labor was, on the other hand, good since it provided an opportunity for other people to peruse some intellectual life.

Conclusion

Farming was the beginning of the relationship between man and the earth. Farmers are the ones who changed the gene pool of exploited resources, they also interfered with the way the other animal species reproduced and made it impossible for the animal species to reproduce with the interference of man. Over, time man has actually defeated some of the forces that threaten his life through medical science, the technology of man has grown very fast and it has become so helpful. A man has also become in control of his environment. A big percentage of the human population on the earth are enjoying economic security and they are also living comfortably with the creatures around them more than the time of Homo sapiens. However, there is danger in the way crisis that man is facing and the direction that he is moving to. Generally the dangers together with the opportunities that man face as he works towards obtaining greater harmony with the earth. He goes through a lot of challenges of overpopulation as well as the destruction of the environment. However, at the other end if we can be able to go through safe and we take most of the forms of the earth's forms together with us, then the existence of human be paradise as compared to present.

References

Drake, Ian J. "What the Gorilla Saw: Environmental Studies and the Novel Ishmael." Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 22.3 (2014): 568-581.

DeKay, Mark. "DESIGNING RELATIONSHIPS TO NATURE."

Hart, Donna. Man the Hunted: Primates, predators, and human evolution. Routledge, 2018.

Narvaez, Darcia. "Returning to humanity's moral heritage." Journal of Moral Education 45.3 (2016): 256-260.