Ishmael #7 Question

Alana Espineli

Final Blog

How, according to Ishmael, can we save the world? And according to you?

Saving the world. Is this task even possible? Is it a too daunting task to even approach? Do people even care about what happens to this world one they no longer inhabit it? In the novel Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn, a telepathic gorilla named Ishmael teaches his student (later known as Alan Lomax about captivity. Alan learns about Ishmael's class through a newspaper ad that read:

TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.

At the end of the novel, Ishmael tells his pupil what he must do in effort to save the world. He gives Alan a program that says the following:

• The story of Genesis must be reversed. First, Cain must stop murdering Abel. This is essential is you're to survive. The Leavers are the endangered species most critical to the world--not because they're humans but because they alone can show the destroyers of the that there is no right way to live. An then, of course, you must spit out the fruit of that forbidden tree. You must absolutely and forever relinquish the idea that you know who should live and who should die on this planet. [...] What you do is teach a hundred what I've taught you, and inspire each of them to teach a hundred.  (Quinn, 248)

Those are the ways that Ishmael proposes that the world is saved. He says "You must change people's minds" (Quinn, 249). This is quite a daunting task for just one person. To change the minds of the billions of people on planet earth alone would be impossible. That is why Ishmael told his student to teach one-hundred and that one-hundred could each teach one-hundred and so on and so forth. By changing the minds of Takers around the world, those Takers would then start changing the way they behave towards the world and the way the think. That is the method that Ishmael suggests to Alan for saving the world.

After reading this novel and working on this project in general, I think that my own opinions on how the world be saved have changed. Previously, I just thought it was just the little things that we did that would at least help the earth in some small way. I was aware of various issues that the planet is facing. However, I was not fully in tune with the technicalities of this issues. Now, I am looking at the world in a different way, quite similar to Ishmael's point of view. Although I do not agree with him in all of his teachings, I do agree with many of them. Now, I do think that we must first change people's minds before we attempt to change the way they treat the planet. Something that I have been thinking about since doing this project is the whole "Go Green" concept. Ever since doing the journal on whether it is truly a lifestyle or just a marketing scheme, I have been thinking about it a lot. Going green seems to be a very popular trend right now so I do think that marketers are taking advantage of this to make money. The consumers of these products are usually spending more money on these products than regular products. However, I think it could be a lifestyle if approached in the right way. That is if there really is a right way. If someone wants to save the world, I think they must change their minds. They must change the way they think, their lifestyle and the way that think about the world, divine intentions and the destiny of man.

Ishmael # 6 QQC

Alana Espineli

21 May 2009

Quote-Question-Comment from 207-254

"People can't just give up a story. That's what the kids tried to do in the sixties and the seventies. They tried to stop living like Takers, but there was no other way for them to live. They failed because you can't just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in." (Quinn, 214)

Question: If Takers understand their story as well as the Leaver's story, will they then be able to switch stories?

Comment: I agree. No one can just give up on a story, especially one that they're in. At the beginning of the novel, Alan didn't even know about Takers or Leavers and the stories that they were enacting. I'm assuming Alan is quite informed in many subjects, especially those concerning the state of our planet, and since he didn't know about these stories, I highly doubt that a majority of civilization is aware of these stories. People need to understand these stories so that they may decide which one they want to be in. However, I think that once someone is born into the Taker society and has been living as a Taker for their entire life, it will be very difficult for them to just become Leavers. They are already attuned to the Taker lifestyle and suddenly changing that could present consequences. For example, maybe their body is used to the Taker lifestyle and once they become Leavers, they will be putting different things into their body and treating their bodies differently than before. This could cause them to possibly become sick. If they were sick as a Taker, they could just go to the hospital or pick up some medication at the drugstore around the corner. As a Leaver, they wouldn't have that type of service available to them. I think that perhaps Takers could slowly transition into a Leaver lifestyle. However, they wouldn't just be able to jump right into it. They would first need to understand the Leaver AND the Taker lifestyles. 

Ishmael #5 QQC

Alana Espineli

21 May 2009

Quote-Question-Comment from 151-184

"The Takers have a knowledge that enables them to rule the world, and the Leavers lack it."(Quinn, 155)

Question: Are the Takers more knowledgeable than the Leavers because Leavers lack this knowledge? Or for other reasons?

Comment: I'm not sure if I agree with Ishmael on this point, but I do understand what he is trying to say. I'm not really sure that Takers really have this "knowledge" that is mentioned. They think they have this knowledge because they are more advanced than other species on this planet. I think that the Takers do not rule the planet. The "Gods" do. The Takers just think that they rule the world. They might be on their way to ruling the world, or they might even be starting to take over or conquer the world. I think that the Takers are more knowledgeable in certain areas than Leavers. However I do not think that the Takers are more knowledgeable all around than Leavers. I think that Takers aren't at all very knowledgeable about the state of the Earth and the way that they are behaving towards the Earth. All they care about is taking over the world and destroying the Leavers. What they don't realize is that the Leavers have so much knowledge that they do not have. When Takers destroy another Leaver community, they are destroying a culture that has been going on for years and years. They are destroying a way of life.

Ishmael #4 Interview

Alana Espineli

Save the World Interview

May 17, 2009

My mom and I went to National City over the weekend to pick up a cart full of Filipino food staples. Since I try to avoid the fishy smell of Seafood City, I decided to wait for my mom at the Jollibee across the street. As I was enjoying my signature Jollibee spaghetti, I remember my Humanities assignment; I was given the task of interviewing someone about our planet. I pulled out my notebook and looked over the questions I had brainstormed in class. I took a look around the small fast-food restaurant and spotted a friendly-looking, elderly man sitting two tables down from me. I stood up, dropped off my (styrofoam) plate into the trashcan and went over to introduce myself. To protect his identity, I have changed his name to Meep, for this blog.

Alana: Hello

Meep: Hi

Alana: I’m Alana

Meep: Hi Alana

Alana: Hey, whats your name?

Meep: Im Meep.

Alana: Oh

Meep: Oh! But you cant reveal that.

Alana: Ok, well. What are your views on the state of our planet?

Meep: I think we are in very, very grave danger. I think that if we do not do anything now then r planet will … cause they say, many people they say that in 2012, that will be the end of our planet but I think it will be for different reasons. Because there will be so many green house gases, that our ozone layer will just spread apart and we can’t even go outside anymore it’s just to hot.

Alana: Do you think that humans have an obligation to take care of the earth?

Meep: Yes, because the planet was around long before we were around and so this planet is around 65 billion years old? I’m just guessing here but I’m going to guess 65. And we’re are as a species only 15 billion or 25 but even then… and now its not until we started trading and commerce and agriculture until maybe 250 thousand years ago and that is when we started changing like our natural…. the natural environment. Not our natural environment because it doesn’t belong to us. We were born into it we were not meant to be the king of it. So yes we do have an obligation because this is not ours. We were just born into it and now we are abusing it.

Alana: Do you think the planet needs saving?

Meep: Yes, as I stated before, if we don’t do anything now, then its just going to be very, very bad. And in time its just going to get worse and worse and worse and then it’s going to take us to the point of no return. Where no matter how hard we try, we can never get back to the state we once were. But on top of all this, I must add that this planet, it does have an end I regret. It’s just going to go into another ice age eventually. And so I think if you want to survive then you must expand to the last frontier, we must explore outer space.

Alana: So if we go to outer space, do you think humans will learn from their mistakes of putting a planet into danger?

Meep: Well I think the pessimist in me is going to say that things are going to happen and then were just going to lose and lose more of our history and culture and we’re just going to get to the point where we forget about planet earth and we don’t know what becomes of it. But the optimist in me is going to say yes, we will learn from our mistakes because as long as we keep our history alive and we inform newer generations and they apply it, then I’m very very optimistic about it.

Alana: You said earlier that you think the earth needs to be saved…how do you think humans can help save the planet?

Meep: BY CONSUMING LESS!!!

Alana: …or…

Meep: Oh, I’m sorry….

Alana: …. Or do you think it can be even saved?

Meep: Well I think it’s to the point where it can be saved but it’s going to take a lot of work. And it’s going to take a lot of work as the entire world, not just one person. Just maybe one person in their entire life contributing nothing isn’t going to effect much. But if we all work together, to just consume less and respect our environment, I believe that conditions will stabilize and we will see this planet to maybe a thousand more years then it should have been.

Alana: What are some steps are you willing to take to help the environment?

Meep: Why, lets go back to the Stone Age! We don’t need 2 always, you know, buy a cell phone you know or drive a car. Lets just go back to a simpler time where its just about brute strength or intelligence and none of this other things where…why do we need a car anyway? To go to work or to go to school? In the Stone Age, they didn’t have schools, they just learned from what they’re doing. Just learned from their survival. So, I guess if you want to actually get the job done then the best thing we could do is revert back to a simpler time where we didn’t need to consume so much.

**Note: This entire Jollibee scenario was entirely made up to really protect "Meep's" identity...

Ishmael #3 QQC

Alana Espineli

"The world is a human life-support system, a machine designed to produce and sustain human life." (Quinn, 69)

Question: Is this "machine" one that runs itself or are there "workers" that need to maintain it?

Response: I'm not sure if I agree or disagree with this statement from Ishmael. However, I do think that it makes sense. I do think that the world supports many life forms on this planet, in addition to humans. Even if the world was designed to sustain human life, it doesn't just give humans what they want or need on a silver platter. People will only receive what they deserve from the world. And even when they do work hard, they don't always get what they want. As Quinn said on page 73, "...the world defied him."I think that if the world is a machine, then humans are the workers that should be maintaining it. Workers should take care of the machines they are working on and make sure that they are working correctly. If these workers fail to do what they need to do, then they will be out of a job. Without a job, the worker will no longer have any income. And so he will have to look elsewhere for work. If the earth is the machine and we are the workers, it is essential for us to maintain the machine like a good worker should. If we fail this task, we have no second option. Sure, there are tons of other planets out there, but there are none (that we are aware of) that will sustain human kind like our planet does. We only have this single machine. If we fail to maintain this machine, we lose our income. We lose our planet.

Ishmael #2 The Story of Man...

Alana Espineli

People. Man. Woman. Child. Human beings have existed for many years. Many different cultures around the world have their own stories about how this came to be. The story that I know is quite similar to many others around the world. 

This story begins with God, the creator. Before there was anything, God created the heavens and the earth. For the next six days God continued to create everything. He created light and darkness. He created the sky, the seas and the land. He created vegetation on the land. He created the sun, the moon and the stars. He created creatures of the sea and of the sky. He created creatures of the land. And He created man and woman in his own image. 

That is the beginning of man's story. These two first human beings were named Adam and Eve. Adam came first, he was created from the dust of the ground. God brought Adam to the Garden of Eden and told him that he was allowed to eat from any of the trees except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God soon saw that Adam needed a companion.  So God gave Adam the task of naming all the creatures of the land. However, Adam wasn't able to find a suitable companion in any of the creatures. So God put Adam to sleep and from Adam's own rib, he created Eve, the first woman. 

Adam and Eve were living happily until the day the serpent devised a plan to deceive them. He tricked Eve into eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She also gave Adam some of the fruit. Once they had eaten the fruit, they're eyes were opened to everything.

God soon found out that they had disobeyed him. He cursed the serpent for deceiving them. God then punished Eve and all of the other women of the world. Since mankind had become like God and now knew everything good and evil, they were no longer able to live forever. Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden.

This was just the beginning of a long history of man. As time went on, human kind began to populate the earth. We have all had to learn from our mistakes and be punished just as Adam and Eve were. 

Ishmael #1 QQC

Alana Espineli

" Ishmael thought for a moment. 'Among the people of your culture, which want to destroy the world?'

'Which want to destroy it? As far as I know, no one specifically wants to destroy the world.'

'And yet you do destroy it, each of you. Each of you contributes daily to the destruction of the world.'

...

'You're captives of a civilization system that more or less compels you to go on destroying the world in order to live.' "

(Quinn, 25)

Question: Is the human race aware that they are "captives" that are destroying the planet for survival?

Response: While I do think that people are aware that humanity is destroying the planet, I do not think that the majority of the population thinks of that in such a harsh manner. Ishmael used word like 'captives' and 'destruction.' The use of these words show just how serious this problem really is. The word captive makes the reader look at the problem in a new way. Ishmael truly knows about captivity after being held captive for so long. I do not think that we have to be held captive to this "civilization system." We can break free of our captivity and start to help heal the earth of the damage that has been done to it. And as Ishmael says, we must first figure out exactly what is holding us captive or else we won't get out. When Ishmael says "...contributes daily to the destruction of the world," it shows the urgency in the issue and lets the reader know that their own everyday activities leave an impact on the earth.