Daniel Quinn's Ishmael

Ishmael acts like all the older soldiers by doing drugs, watching war movies and never sleeping just like they do. He acts this new way only because of who he’s surrounded and influenced by. Now in the novel, Ishmael’s character is changing completely. From a considerate, playful, young child; he’s now a ruthless, animal-like killing machine for the government

Ishmael Leseur is the main character in “Don’t Call Me Ishmael”, a book by Michael Gerard Bauer. He courageously steps up to Year Nine only to be bullied for his name, embarrassed in front of his first love, and to become a complete social outcast. This leads to him naming Year Nine as “the toughest, the weirdest, the most embarrassingly awful and the best year” of his life.

Throughout the novel, Ishmael and his friends begin to those their humanity and become completely different individuals because of their exposure to the war. The

American author, Daniel Quinn in his novel, Ishmael, questions the path of humanity and the grim effects of the rise of man on the surrounding world by analyzing the extent of damage that has been caused by mankind conquering the community of life and not participating as an equal. He utilizes irony and allusions through the beginning till the end of his novel to illuminate to the readers that when mother culture ceases to be heard, inspiration will be present for the takers to stop enacting a story in which captives of a civilizational system in which the world was conquered and destroyed for the takers to live exempted from the community of life.

In the book, Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, one man and one gorilla hope to save the world. After throwing away the newspaper, the narrator seems upsetted by the advertisement for a teacher seeking a pupil interested in saving the world. He had lost hope after failing to find such a teacher in his youth as part of the counterculture. Although certain it is a scam, he decides to go to the address. He walks into a building to find only a gorilla behind a window of glass. The gorilla speaks telepathically after a few moments of fearful silence and caution telling the narrator's thoughts to relax. He then proceeds to voice his identity: Ishmael. Ishmael, to the narrators surprise, speaks the human language; he learned it while listening to

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is an book which discusses many things, most specifically how humans see and treat the world around them. The book categorizes humans into two distinct categories, takers and leavers. There are many themes which are used throughout the book, such as captivity, identity, and evolution. One of the most important things discussed throughout the book is the environment, how humans treat it and how the takers are destroying the world through knowing nothing about it. This book has many parts of it that make it interesting to read, like the Takers and Leavers, all the different themes, and the discussion Ishmael has on the environment and how humans treat it.

James Scobie is a character that appears in Don’t Call Me Ishmael at the very start of chapter 12 when Miss Tarango introduces him. Ishmael describes him as ‘a little too neat’ he also says that ‘His hair was parted perfectly on one side and swept back from his forehead like a poised wave to break’. When it comes to Scobie’s clothes Ishmael say that ‘it was as if his grandfather was his fashion guru’ and all together he was ‘enough to make Barry Bagsley’s eyes light up’. Scobie makes an impression on everyone straight away as a geeky know it all that is very smart, this would then be a perfect target for Barry Bagsley, but little does everyone know that James Scobie isn’t afraid of anything. Further along the novel they realise this. Barry

The book is based on actual events and is expressed through a personal point of view. Ishmael wrote a memoir that tells the story of a young boy who is torn from his peaceful life, and then forced into a frightening world of drugs and slavery. In writing about his experiences, he has made the decision to present his experiences in a particular way by missing out details and recounting others. This

Ishmael is a complex book with a couple of themes. These themes are the desire to save the world, what does it mean to be a person, and why are things the way they are. The latter is the theme that is most prominent through out the entire book. For that reason I have chosen to use conflict perspective. I chose conflict perspective because it is all about the struggle for power. We see the power struggle come up in Ishmael multiple times in terms of the takers feeling like they have all the power, when in fact mother nature has the power and she is letting us use it.

The book says how we were put on this earth to conquer it and make it our own paradise, but because of us being imperfect beings, we are bound to ruin it. On the contrary, it is argued that man’s only flaw is that we do not know how we “ought to live.” The answer is provided by the ways of nature, but as takers, we refuse to abide by the laws of nature and live as civilized beings in no need of the gods to tell us how to live. It is argued that the beliefs of man as being inherently flawed is due to our destructive behavior. We do not give ourselves enough credit for being human. Man is perfectly capable of living in harmony with the earth without destroying it if we took responsibility for our treatment of it. This has to do with the inherent goodness of man. Humans, before the time of modern civilization, did live in harmony with the earth and took only what they needed from it, just like the animals now. Mankind taking over the world used to not even be part of the question, but then evolution continued and we somehow started to believe we have a purpose here. To rule the earth. We think we are building up the world, but we are actually destroying

The human behavior is one that will haunt humanity forever. A Long Way Gone, written by Ishmael Beah, is an original non-fiction story based on Ishmael’s personal experiences in warfare. But, shockingly, he witnessed warfare from the small eyes of his teenage years. Having to experience one of the worst things in history, at such a young age, is terrible. War, in this case or in any case, relates to both human condition and human nature. Human conditions, in short, are things that that defines the human existence (birth, death, etc.) Human nature, close to human conditions, are how humans act naturally to their environment and others. The theme of A Long Way Gone ties strongly with both of these with a passion. It describes war as an art, with human condition as a canvas and human nature to paint in the fine details. The question asked is what Ishmael Beah’s experience tells us about the meaning of the human being, and to answer we have to poke at some topics that we’ve covered. The answers to the sole question include the hypothetical existence of pure evil, the important keys of human social life, and how war affects one’s own mind.

2. What does Ishmael mean on page 91, when he says, “the world of thought is coterminous with your culture”?

“When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate on the preservation of the future” (“Dian Fossey” 7). During Dian Fossey’s studies in the Rwandan jungle, she developed relationships with many of the apes and considered the gorillas as family. Fossey lived in the jungle with these animals for many years in order to collect crucial data and research to prevent extinction. Important details of the movie such as the gorillas behavior and characteristics, Dian Fossey’s abnormal behavior, and the essence of Fossey are immensely important in portraying the movie in the most accurate way.

In undoubtedly one of the grandest science fiction epics of all time, Frank Herbert’s Dune focuses on a stunning blend of politics, environmentalism, adventure, and mysticism. Recipient of the Nebula Award and Hugo Award, Dune explores the effects of a changing global climate most prominently. The role of science fiction isn’t so much to predict the future, rather than to astound the audience with its possible leading avenues. Dune has a sparse ecosystem and Herbert explores for instance how the limitation of water would transform the planetary ecology and possible sustenance for human life. Thus Dune, stands as an early example that explores environmentalism and ecology, effectively communicating these novel ideas in the 1960’s to a new and young audience and generation. Herbert focuses on the untapped human potential of transcending the primary state of living conditions, however with a plethora of limitations and consequences. Particularly interesting, the novel as a whole serves as an allegory for the dangers of environmental shortages and damages. Although some may presume the novel Dune as confusing archaic misfit for a science fiction novel, these romantic critics are often too dogmatic in their provincial ideologies. Several warnings are presented throughout the course of the novel on ancient dangers such as the greed of mercantile corporations, the intertwined complications of religion and politics, conflicts of feudalism, and most prominently ecological fragility.

There are many pertinent and legitimate questions that can be raised involving human nature, William Golding's iconic novel Lord of the Flies, and the Middle Eastern society of today. This paper addresses those issues and concepts in light of what is happening in the Middle East today and also from the big picture of the Muslim community in the Middle East. Is it in fact fair to portray human nature (that is shown through Lord of the Flies) as reflecting human nature in Middle Eastern society? This paper approaches that subject in earnest.