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A few months ago, while scanning the web for interesting books, I stumbled over Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. I understood by the commotion the book has caused, that it was special. I bought it and saved it for a suitable moment. A week ago I was up trekking in the Swedish mountains and during the evenings in the tent I read it.

Ishmael

The book explores the problems of humankind. The two characters are an old gorilla and a man. The gorilla, Ishmael, has studied ecology and the human condition. He can somehow communicate telepathically. He is looking for students and through an ad in a newspaper this man becomes his student. Ishmael, little by little, mostly through challenging questions, unfolds the true nature of our culture. Slowly the man (and the reader) realizes the cause of mans destructive behaviour and what can be done about it.

Enacting a story

Our “culture” is relatively young, only some 10,000 years. Humans existed on earth for about 3 million years before that. Something entered that made the human civilization destructive, Ishmael explains.

Behind our culture there is a story. It is so familiar that few is conscious of it or questions it. The story, or really the myth, was formed long ago and is still invisibly ruling our minds. Ishmael talks about “Mother Culture” humming in the background, telling her story over and over again. We are enacting it, that is, we live so as to make the story a reality. The truth is that we are unknowingly held captive by a system of thoughts that controls our actions and puts us at odds with the world.

The takers

A key theme in story of our culture is that earth belongs to man. Everything on it is ours to use and exploit. Man is like a biological exception and the end product of the creation. As a consequence he thinks he is free to live outside the laws that keep the rest of the living community together, Ishmael tells us. Man wants to grow without limit. This is how our culture thinks: We kill off everything we can’t eat or use for our purposes. We kill off everything that eats what we eat. We kill off anything that doesn’t feed what we eat. Ishmael calls our civilization the takers.

It seems man has difficulties to live side by side with other creatures. Up until recently we believed that everything would get better and better, but now as a consequence of us breaking the laws, disaster is coming. The laws hold for everything living on earth.

It is easy to believe that something is fundamentally wrong with man and that we cannot do anything about it. This is another myth that has held us captive. We are not evil by nature, Ishmael says, we just act according to our story.

Ishmael believes that the world can be saved only through a radical mind shift. Legislation cannot do it. People have to realize the hidden story that governs our civilization and replace it with something else; we need a different story to enact.

The leavers

Ishmael also describes the alternate story, which he calls the story of the Leavers; the one we ought to listen to and learn from. The premise of the leaver story is that man belongs to earth and is a part of the world as the rest of the living creatures are. People have been living this way before our culture and is still so living today. The takers call them “the primitives”, look down on them and despise their way of living. Still their story and their attitude to life is a key to the survival of mankind, Ishmael thinks.

Ishmael does not believe that we should return to our former primitive hunter-gatherer existence, nor does he think that technology is evil in itself or that science should be rejected. What we need is to humble ourselves and reconsider our place and purpose in the living community.

Creating a world

The book really gave me much to think about. I believe Ishmael is right. We are the takers and we ought to learn from the story of the leavers. By thinking together we can disclose the false myths and find out the true story to enact. We create a world with our story, by thinking, talking and acting.

Novels

To communicate deep and challenging truths through storytelling and novels can get your thoughts going like nothing else. Why is it so? It is because in a novel you have a richer palette of expressions. Many things are hidden and you have to work and participate with the story to fully understand. The author uncovers his intentions little by little in metaphors, parables and through the characters thoughts and feelings.

When you reach the end of a good book, you want to read it again. You might have missed something. That’s precisely what I did. I immediately started to read Ishmael a second time. We need more novels like this!

Rousseau said (1754):
“The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying This is mine, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: Beware of listening to this imposter; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody”

There are a number of sites dedicated to Ishmael:
Friends of Ishmael Society
Read Ishmael
Ishmael.org