Daniel Quinn’s “Ishmael”
June 23, 2011 By Editor Brian Reid
Though our spiritual understanding can shape how we perceive the world, nature itself, equally informs our spiritual experience. This becomes abundantly clear when you do retreat. From the weather to the surrounding landscape, the environment plays a significant role in your retreat. The fascinating novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn delves into humankind’s history of environmental ethics through a dialogue between two figures—a disillusioned writer and a silverback gorilla.
The story opens with the writer’s reaction to a personal ad that reads, “Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person.” What follows is an unpredictable yet engaging journey between a young man seeking direction and a half-ton gorilla named Ishmael, wanting to share an illuminating perspective on the human condition.
Ishmael’s view on the history of human culture provides a provocative outlook in comparison to what we were taught in the classroom. His study of human civilization brings to light many of the major environmental and global challenges we face such as overpopulation and sustainability.
Ishmael sees the agricultural revolution as humanity’s moral defiance in the face of the ethical structure of life. This rebellion has produced generations of people trying to use and control the environment with little regard for the planet and her other inhabitants’ welfare. Quinn underscores this moral dilemma with intriguing interpretations of the biblical stories of Genesis as well.
The author seems to suggest that a possible solution is to rediscover some universal truths. We are not born as a self-existent problem for the planet. What we think, say and do determines how we function in the world. The potential for hope is always present.
Quinn also raises the powerful theme of the teacher/student relationship. The young writer is seeking truth. Ishmael appears to exist only to teach him the truths that he’s discovered for the benefit of others. The story is driven by an intimacy that can only be created by two beings fully focused on one another. This is one of the many reasons Ishmael is such a fulfilling read during retreat because it’s just you and the story… the seeker and the teacher.