Daniel Quinn’s book challenges modern society’s perspective
Jonathon Smith
What can man learn from a gorilla?
What could their perspective teach humanity about the world?
In the novel “Ishmael” by Daniel Quinn, a gorilla with the ability to speak telepathically to humans, places an ad in the newspaper that says, “Teacher seeks pupil, must have earnest desire to save the world.” It naturally comes as quite a shock for the student when the teacher turns out to be a gorilla.
The premise for the novel seems odd at first glance, but once the shock of a gorilla teaching a human wears off, a captivating and insightful story awaits the reader.
The perspective of the gorilla posits a number of interesting questions related to the history of human civilization and the nature of its evolution.
Movies like “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “The Day After Tomorrow” fictionalize the consequences of irresponsible human development, but none of these present a very believable story. These science fiction movies serve to entertain, but do little to inform.
Ishmael, on the other hand, explores the growth of human civilization from the birth of agriculture to the modern age of technology. It pokes fun at the human race for believing it to be the pinnacle of evolution, and thus, destined to control its environment and conquer the world.
“There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with people. Given a story to enact that puts them in accord with the world, they will live in accord with the world. But given a story to enact that puts them at odds with the world, as yours does, they will live at odds with the world. Given a story to enact in which they are the lords of the world, they will act as the lords of the world. And, given a story to enact in which the world is a foe to be conquered, they will conquer it like a foe, and one day, inevitably, their foe will lie bleeding to death at their feet, as the world is now.”
Ishmael claims that this simple belief has placed man in a futile journey to “save” the world. As humans constantly strive to develop better technologies that improve our way of life, we have effectively enslaved ourselves as well as the planet.
Ishmael has the power to change the perception of modern society, and hopefully enough people read it so that one day it will.
