Analysis Of The Book ' Ishmael By Daniel Quinn

Disaster! The headlines all mention the utter destruction of the world. Their dismal outlooks on the future are often accompanied by generic solution such as; “Recycle”, “Ride a bike”, etc. The novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn the contains the same “Disaster!” message but is accompanied by many unorthodox solutions to the problems which Quinn identifies. One problem addressed is overpopulation. The solution to this problem is not answered by Quinn; rather, it is left up to the reader through a binary moral dilemma: sustain the excess population and maintain the problem, or stop aiding the people, the poor, and let the populations die off. Yet there is another solution to sustain current population growth and stem the problem.The solution to

Action from necessity is a constantly recurring theme in Thucydides’ The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. A sentiment used to explain the growth of the Athenian Empire which some Athenians espoused to an assembly at Sparta best quantifies necessity, “. . . we were necessarily compelled at first to advance the hegemony to where it is—especially by fear, and then by honor, and later by benefit.” (Selected Passages 1.75.3). This claim, referred to as the Athenian Thesis, is used to advance the two following implications: all states act with the motivations of fear, honor and interest and no one can condemn a state for doing so. The Athenian Thesis influences the way many of the Athenian elite structure their patterns of reasoning in both noticeable and subtle ways.

In Greek mythology, hubris means to have excessive self confidence or pride. In The Odyssey, we often see Odysseus getting into trouble because of his hubris. There are many examples where this flaw is exhibited. These include when Odysseus defeats the cyclops Polyphemus, when he and his crew sail past the sirens, and when he got the bag of winds from Aeolus. Hubris leads him to disregard the Gods, and make unwise decisions because his pride blinds him of his ability to see the consequences in making those choices. Odysseus’ hubris also makes his trip home harder and longer than it had to be.

In the scene where Oedipus sends for Tiresias, the blind prophet, Tiresias says to him, “So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this. You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life” (Oedipus Rex Line 468). It is pretty ironic actually, that a blind man can clearly see Oedipus’s corruption when, Oedipus himself is left unaware. In most cases of hubris behavior the individual believes they are so prideful, they actually believe they’re on the same level with God. It is clear that Oedipus has the same perspective of his life, and of his power. Hubris behavior is a tragic flaw, in which the individual is only setting themselves up in order to fall.

Everyone has flaws. Someone may get a little too angry and saw something they do not mean. Maybe someone's pride stops them from asking for help when they need it. Either way, no one is perfect; hubris always finds a way to ruin peoples lives. Sophocles’s two plays Oedipus the King, and Antigone are prime examples of how hubris can lead to ones ultimate downfall, which can be seen through the characters Antigone, Oedipus, and Creon.

Ishmael is about a young scientist that can telepathically speak with a gorilla named Ishmael who will soon to be the teacher. Ishmael taught himself his education when he was able to talk to his owner telepathically to get him books. Ishmael helps the narrator realize that we can’t just take whatever we want from the environment and all of its resources. The narrator sees Ishmael for days in a row but ends up having to miss days to see him. He then finds Ishmael at a traveling carnival to finish the lesson they had. The narrator has an idea of buying Ishmael from the carnival owners and finally when he got enough money to buy the gorilla, Ishmael dies.

First Example where hubris is being shown is when the Hurricane had come and Tea cake beforehand had said that there was no Hurricane coming and that they should not worry about anything. However when the Hurricane had come Tea cake started to feel bad about not listening to Janie and started to apologize to her. He said “"Ah reckon you wish now you had of stayed in yo' big house 'way from such as dis, don't yuh?" (159). He said this because he thought that maybe Janie might be regretting the fact of marrying him, since she already had a house and was from a higher class than what he was.

Bang! Bang! “At that instant several gunshots, which sounded like thunder striking the tin-roofed houses, took over town. The sound of guns was so terrifying it confused everyone” (Beah 23). In A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah conveys his amazing journey through war and hardship as a child soldier. Sierra Leone--a country on the western coast of Africa--was embroiled in a bloody civil war in the 1990’s. Battles multiplied as bloodshed abounded and as a child in Sierra Leone Ishmael Beah was forced to survive, find food, and face unimaginable dangers. Running from the battle front was also a routine ordeal. At age 13 Beah was captured by the military and brainwashed into using guns and drugs. As a child soldier he perpetrated and witnessed a great deal of violence. At 15 he was rescued and taken to a rehabilitation center. With time and continual treatment, Beah was able to recover, to some extent, and reconnect with his Uncle Tommy who adopted him. He was later chosen to speak to the United Nations in New York City about his experiences as a child soldier. When he returned to Sierra Leone, war broke out throughout in the city where he lived, causing many deaths including his Uncle Tommy. Eventually Beah escaped Sierra Leone and he managed to reach New York City, where he began a new life. Through Ishmael Beah’s book A Long Way Gone, he conveys a central theme of having to survive, at a young age, through the hardships of war with the use of imagery.

Inequality has been a trending problem in society and over recent time it has been getting even worse. Wealthy groups often misuse their resources to take advantage of the poor to keep moving up. “Ishmael” by Daniel creates an interesting philosophy that reflects upon the social conflict theory through the eyes of the narrator and the teacher, Ishmael. However, it is not a traditional story as it lacks major character development. Quinn wrote it to teach as opposed to entertain. Ishmael encourages both the reader and the narrator to think outside of the box. The lessons are taught through the symbols of the Takers, Leavers, and Mother Culture.

Hubris is defined by the Webster-Miriam dictionary as “Exaggerated pride or confidence” (Miriam-Webster Dictionary) in Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, In Oedipus The King, by Sophocles, the onslaught of pain assailing the protagonist is a result of his tragic flaw. Sophocles often used a characters’ flaw to alter or influence the outcome or future of the hero. Oedipus' hubris influences him to fulfill the oracle and further intensify his punishment from the Gods.

Ishmael Beah was an ordinary twelve year old boy from Sierra Leone, until one night changed his entire life. The author of A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy soldier is Ishmael Beah himself because he wanted to portray his life journey for readers to understand what life is like for children fighting to survive during warfare. Also, going through trauma is never easy, but however it's one of the only ways people can learn from their mistakes and prevent them from happening in future generations. It's best for people to speak up about their experiences like Elie Wiesel did in writing Night so no one ever doubts anything that actually happen. This young teenage boy converts into this cold blooded killer into a person committing himself to the survival of others Ishmael Beah transformed from an ordinary twelve year old boy, into an enraged killing soldier and then to a man that speaks up for children affected by these wars.

Hubris is a very popular theme in Greek mythology. Hubris was a very important moral concept to the Greeks. Committing hubris was a very serious crime. Hubris is defined as having extreme pride or arrogance. Pride became hubris when it became all consuming or hurtful to others. Other actions that were seen as hubris were acting as if you were equal or more powerful than the gods, or trying to defy them. Hubris was a severe crime that deserved a serious punishment, and it was the downfall of many characters in ancient myths.

According to the stories "Apollo and Daphne" and "Phaëthon," hubris has major consequences, but the narrative about Phaethon better emphasizes how hubris affects not only the people closest to the culprit but potentially the whole world. While both "Apollo and Daphne" and "Phaëthon" focus on hubris' negative effects, "Apollo and Daphne" mainly focuses on hubris' effects on the culprit and the people closest to them. After Apollo slays the great python with his arrow, Apollo becomes a victim of his own arrogance. He mocks Cupid's unmasculine ways: Because of his hubris and mockery of Cupid, Apollo suffers substantially. Cupid decides on Apollo's punishment, which will affect not only Apollo but the person nearest in distance to Apollo, Daphne:

In Greek mythology, both mortals and gods make mistakes. These mistakes were made ages ago, but can still be learned from today. Learning what mistakes these gods and mortals made and applying them to one’s common sense can help us avoid making the same mistakes. There are many lessons that can be learned in Greek mythology, although the possibilities are endless, three lessons people can apply to their daily lives

“But who names a starship the Icarus? What kind of man possess that much hubris, that he dares it to fall?”(Kaufman). Icarus is a character in a myth that inherits a hubris quality who has excessive pride in himself which gets him into some poor situations and teaches a lesson to others. Ovid’s story Daedalus and Icarus and the painting The Fall of Icarus depict hubris through conflicts and theme.