Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit - Book Report/Review Example

Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit Quinn Daniel presents an inspiring and attention-gripping masterpiece. The story features an unnamed narrator and a wise and educated gorilla that the audience learns its name is Ishmael. The unnamed narrator had the dreams of protecting the environment since his childhood. Then, an advertisement that captures a teacher seeking pupils catches his attention, and he applies for the vacancy. Surprising, the narrator meets the wise, inquisitive, learned gorilla that can converse telepathically. Arguably, the author skillfully utilizes philosophical dialogues between the narrator and the gorilla to communicate the serious issues that require the attention of humanity. In effect, Quinn offers a comprehensive examination of the history of civilization and illuminates the assumptions, as well as philosophies central to the innumerable of global problems. Notably, the book focuses on the human quest to control the environment. The human’s quest to dominate other life-forms and explore the universe has resulted in degradation of the environment. Quinn traces the current global problems to the agricultural revolution and provokes the audience to reread the biblical stories contained in Genesis. The culture of environmental destruction has become prevalent in the current world. The human beings are in the pursuit of disrupting the earth while disregarding the other life-forms. Notably, the natural resources such as forests are destroyed in order to create habitats for human beings. Quinn captures well the theme of environmental destruction and the effects it has on other life-forms. From the onset, the reader can realize that the author is attempting to advocate re-examination of the rules that guide the preservation of the environment. The advertisement requires a pupil who is willing to protect the environment. The teacher is seeking a pupil who demonstrates a “desire to save the world” (Quinn 4). It seems the activities of the human beings have continued to cause destruction to the nature. As evident in the communication between the gorilla and the unnamed narrator, people are committed to destroying the biological, as wells as the environmental resources. The book exposes that the takers defy the established ecological rules that govern all the life-forms. It is true that the civilization has many benefits and some drawbacks. The civilized cultures intend to control the world and the universe. In contrast, the perceived primitive cultures adhere to the rules that promote harmonious coexistence of all life-forms. Quinn provokes the humanity to formulate the policies that can save the earth from wanton destruction. Ishmael informs the narrator that the civilized culture engages in the destruction of the world on a daily basis (25). Notably, the author challenges the status quo and advocate reexamination and conscious search for solutions that can alleviate the environmental destruction that plagues the globe. The philosophical dialogue between Ishmael and the narrator, the author communicates the importance of formulating policies that create a balance between the civilized cultures and the rest of the life-forms. Quinn passes this message to the audience through a skillful use of the personification technique. It is interesting for the gorilla to converse telepathically with the human beings. The gorilla can communicate and pass important lessons on how to protect the environment to the humanity. In this respect, the author artistically uses Ishmael as a voice of the other life-forms, which the taker culture has subordinated in pursuit of superiority. It is interesting that the author does not criticize the human species per se. Quinn is concerned with the modern civilization that has destructed the environment. Prior to civilization, the human beings coexisted peacefully with other life-forms. In this respect, the ecological destruction is a product of the modern civilization. The comparison between the primitive and civilized societies attempts to find the cause ecological destructiveness. The evaluation of the two cultures is a significant ecological step towards discerning the cause of the destruction of the environment. It is crucial that the Ishmael did not believe and propose a solution to global problems lies in reverting to the hunter-gatherer way of life. Similarly, the author does not contend that technology can solve the evident problem. It is true that the technology cannot remedy problems that stem from a certain culture. Such problems can be solved by changing human behavior as pointed out by Quinn. Quinn presents that theme of captivity in an interesting way. Ishmael notes that human beings are captives of systems, which promote civilizations aimed at destroying the earth (25). Through the archetypical teacher-student relationship strategy, the narrator realizes that the humanity is a state of incarceration. The human behavior has imprisoned the lives of other creatures. Notably, the gorilla was detained in zoo, traveling circus, and the airy gazebo. While in zoo, Ishmael experiences a change in life. The gorilla is not free as the other wildlife that lives in the forests. Similarly, Ishmael did not have freedom in traveling circus and airy gazebo. Although captivity limits an individual in many ways, it sometimes invokes a quest to question and challenge the status quo. The gorilla understands itself and the world around it. It develops curiosity of understanding the humanity, and then suggests solutions to remedy the key global problems. The author’s employment of storytelling and rhetorical strategy convinces the readers that the human beings are captives. Ishmael asks the unnamed narrator guiding questions in order to determine the level of understanding of the problems that have plagued the globe. The modern civilization has detained the human beings. In this regard, humanity cannot perceive the problems inherent in the civilizations. The author’s smooth style, as well as intriguing proposals serves to grip the attention of the readers fascinated with the seemingly daunting dilemmas inherent on the earth. Using the smooth style, Quinn exposes the drawbacks in human civilization and the effects they have on other life-forms. The theory laid by Ishmael for correcting the primary global problems is based on the principle that humanity relies on the earth, but not vice versa. The civilized culture needs to treat the earth better and respect the perceived primitive cultures. This is an important message, which every human being should grasp, and attempt to remedy the challenges presented by civilization. Quinn convinces the audience that they should take the earth for granted, and ought to mind about the future generations. The use of a non-human character is a creative technique of passing an important message to the target audience in an effective way. The gorilla looks at the civilization from the side of the oppressed. Using the non-human character, the author gets a right perspective and platform from which to attempt to criticize the effects of human activities without hypocrisy. Perhaps, the author realizes that it is effectual to perceive the voice of oppressed demand restitution and freedom. Ishmael comes out as a strong character that possesses powerful intellect to offer solutions to the global problems. Quinn uses Ishmael to maintain doubt in the readers’ mind. This is unlike many ecological books that present bombastic and urgent expletives of the seemingly forthcoming disasters. The author’s ability to create suspense ensures that every idea presented in the book undergoes through comprehensive evaluation on the part of readers and characters in the novel. The people who value environment should read this book. The proposals presented in the book are practical, and people should implement them. Notably, the arguments in the novel are important for continued coexisted of the human beings and the other life-forms. Human beings should reexamine the negative effects of modern civilization on the environment and rectify them for the prosperity. It is important to transform the ideas in the book into actions to have a better planet. The significance of engaging in activities that promote sustainable development without destroying the earth and its inhabitants is paramount. The readers of this book will realize that the attempts to practice the unsustainable behavior threaten to disrupt the natural ecosystems upon which all the life-forms including the human beings depend. Such environmentally unfriendly activities have a potential of causing an extinction of already oppressed life-forms. Therefore, the book will persuade the readers to reexamine the effects of modern civilization and devote to adhering to the ecologies rules and policies. The task of protecting the environment requires concerted efforts, and the solutions proposed in the book can go a long way in preserving the ecology. Work Cited Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. New York: Bantam, 1995. Print. Read More