Ishmael Assignment
Sulaimon Shokoya
“Among the people of our 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 contribute daily to the destruction of the world” (Quinn, pp. 25). Through the composition of Daniel Quinn, “Ishmael,” it is illustrated how humankind has been irresponsibly exploiting the supplies that mother nature had been providing. Through his experience from being ambushed out of the jungle, kept in a zoo in the 1930’s, brought into the private care of Mr. Sokolow and kept in a menagerie, the truth of man destroying the world was revealed in-depth through a gorilla named Ishmael. Daniel Quinn’s…show more content… He explains the vital part of the takers' mythology as remorseful. This remorse prompts man to accuse their troubles on an inmate flaw. The inherent flaw anchors on the idea that no method or origin could logically help determine how man ought to live and act in the environment. To resolve the flaw poured upon man, the takers believe their only solution is to rely on prophets to instruct them on how to live the right way in other to save the planet. In the same vein, the premise set for “leavers” is: “Man belongs to the world.” (p. 239) Man only took what he needed and lived for years before the agricultural revolution. Buttressing this premise, Quinn (1992) says “I have amazing news for you. Man Is not alone on this planet. He is part of a community, upon which he depends absolutely. Have you ever had any suspicions to that effects?” (p. 99). According to Quinn, individuals in the society depends on one another, and the society of today is an ecosystem where we rely on other species or countries for the benefits of ourselves. An example of the interdependent nature of countries today is the idea of free trade vs. fair trade, and how it is currently affecting the world. Countries today rely on other countries to have their production done, and their material and service need satisfied. According to Donald Trump, “We support free trade, but it needs to be fair, and it needs to be…show more content… Sustainability calls for new thinking and new ways of balancing the ecosystem so that life and nature are preserved for generations unborn. Nature's resources are not infinitesimal. Hence, nature should be judiciously used and preserved. Daniel Quinn's book, "Ishmael" consists of some weaknesses. One of such weakness is, rather than state the directions the world should change and how to achieve the change, he simply appeals to people to change their minds. I believe that for a mind change to be meaningful and useful, there is a need for direction and instructions towards the desired change and towards making the world better. The government, for instance, use incentives to keep the economy stable and encourage production and exploitation of natural resources. There is a need for an elaboration of the negative impacts of production and exploitation of nature and the desired course of action to remedy the negative fallouts. How does Man change their minds, if they are clueless about how dangerously their actions are affecting the world.? This leads to another weakness portrayed in Quinn’s novel. Man is irrational, they fail to act accordingly, rather would think out of any reason just to ignore an existing issue. For example, global warming. There are scientific proofs and long