A Phat Gorilla

Ishmael is a novel with a massive telepathic gorilla that teaches an aspiring hero of the world the reason humanity is in decline, and how we are faulted.

Ishmael helps the writer understand how most of us, most of humanity, are all living lives that will destroy the world…but a tiny group of people, a minority, live in connection with earth, and that it is these people who will lead civilization to a bright future.

There are two groups, takers and leavers, essentially and very simply. Takers are a part of the system, a part of the civilized culture. I don’t want to give anything crucial away, as in the truly thought provoking unearthings, because everyone should try and read this book – but the takers think the world was made for the them and therefore can “take” anything from it for themselves. They don’t believe the laws of nature apply to them. As well they think they know what is good and bad, as well as who deserves to live and die. Ishmael states that this thought is the most destructive we could conjure. By believing that we know who should die, asserts that we think of ourselves as god, that we can control life and deserve to do so. And seeing as how the takers have taken over, with the majority of us living with this mindset, the earth and humanity are dying.

The leavers on the other hand believe they are a part of the world and that they are given a beautiful opportunity to live on earth; that we are put here to do justice to mother nature, not take from it what we want like a grocery store. They don’t know how to tell whether someone should die or not or what is good and bad because they are pure. Daniel Quinn uses multiple biblical references to solidify his point, there’s one quote in there that is awesome. ‘Have no care for tomorrow. Don’t worry about whether you’re going to have something to eat. Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, but God takes perfect care of them. Don’t you think he’ll do the same for you?”

The leavers believe, also, that each one of us should have to suffer a little bit and we need to take turns because, like the quote above explains, we will be fine, god knows we will be fine and we have to trust in the ways of the world.

When it all comes down to brass tax, the Takers have been destroying the planet out of ignorance, greed, and fear. The main problem, though, is that it’s been going on for so long that we seem blinded to the possibility that there could even be another way to live. It’s been this way for most of humanity and for it to change now would flip over most of what we believe.

“People need more than to be scolded, more than to be made to feel stupid and guilty. They need more than a vision of doom. They need a vision of the world and of themselves that inspires them.”