IshmaelIshmael by Daniel Quinn is the story of a man's quest for knowledge and his desire to “save the world”. Responding to a simple ad in the newspaper from a professor looking for students (p4), the narrator embarks on an incredible philosophical journey. The teacher our narrator expects, however, is not the one he finds, for our main character Ishmael, so aptly named by Walter Sokolow (p. 18) because he felt the almost divine presence of the gorilla, is this teacher. This teaching is made possible thanks to Ishmael's miraculous means of telepathic communication (p21). The name Ishmael, originally Goliath due to his size and alleged behavior (p14), I find incredibly appropriate because he, like Abraham's eldest son, seems to be sent from heaven. but in this case to save us from ourselves. I consider Daniel Quinn's Ishmael to be closer to Islamic theology in that he has more of a prophetic character than to Jewish theology in which he is generally considered wicked although repentant (even if he is a Jew who named him for power makes my view invalid). Its divine nature and importance are demonstrated most powerfully by a few simple lines on a poster that the narrator finds in a pile when Ishmael dies. The question on the opposite side of said poster "WITH GORILLA GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR MAN?" (p. 263) is entirely reasonable in that his teachings throughout the book make this question apparent in our own minds before it is even discovered. The two main elements involved in Ishmael's lessons are the concepts of "leavers" and "takers" (p. 38). The two terms are used synonymously for primitive and civilized groups respectively (p39), where we, and all developed nations, as well as Ishmael's student are the Takers while they are natives...... middle of paper......last 48 years. However, during the same period, the world population has doubled. This discovery lends credence to Ishmael's statement. But how can we stop this increase in production and our other many problems? Ishmael says, “You do it the same way you stop destroying the ozone layer, the same way you stop destroying the rainforests. If the will is there, the method will be found” (p140). Although the impact of greenhouse gases and others are debated in our society, there is no doubt that we are making the world less and less livable due to the destruction of various ecologies. The fact that these debates are taking place shows that there is an interest, that there is a desire to move us away from the path of self-destruction. And so the question remains: “WITH THE GORILLA GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR MAN?” » I certainly think so.