Ishmael blog

I never loved biology, and after reading Ishmael, I have a whole new set of reasons to appreciate it even less. What I didn't realize in 10th grade, but now seems so glaringly obvious, is that biology avoids. Students spend an entire year at a critical point in their teenage-aging process, learning the intricate details about everything around them, even inside of them, but never studying the connection. Plant species and the animal kingdom are studied under the context of humans already controlling them - hybrid plants, mutated creatures, animal testing to ensure safety for ourselves. No examination or analyzing of the way we connect with nature. Only how we control it. Above all, we don't consider ourselves a part of this nature anymore, nor are we outside observers. Instead, we are the kings of nature, above it, both physically and mentally.

The principles and laws that species in nature follow are too elementary for us. For example, symbiotic relationships. Nearly all animal, plant, and fungi species live in a world of symbiosis. Billions. Hundreds of billions. And yet humans, who have inhibited the Earth for a minuscule fraction of it's existence, who are just one of the multiple billion species, are the sole exception. In our humble opinion.

Cue Ishmael's sign.
WITH MAN GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR GORILLA?
WITH GORILLA GONE, WILL THERE BE HOPE FOR MAN?

A sign difficult to interpret, but also shockingly simple. Both statements could imply that the species mentioned second, will have graver odds in the absence of the former. But they also could imply the direct opposite - without man, gorilla had the ability to prevail and step into it's own role of leadership. What both sides of the sign definitely signify is that humans are a part of an Eco-system based on mutual existence. Symbiosis.  Life depends on other life.
This is examined further in Ishmael even before the back of the poster is revealed. When Ishmael first disappears and the narrator works to find him, he notes that while occupied with reuniting with this gorilla, he takes a break from thinking the way he has been: thinking that Ishmael implies is essential to the survival of humanity. "With gorilla gone, will there be hope for man?" When the narrator finds Ishmael in the carnival, cold and tired, he brings Ishmael blankets, not yet knowing about the pneumonia. Without this care, he may have gone just a day or two early. "With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?" Both rely on each other in their times of need and establish a relationship of co-dependency.

Most of our education is centered on the notion of “we”. Especially in Western countries, it’s difficult for us to imagine that maybe our practices aren’t perfect, and maybe things that are different from us might even be better. We separate ourselves from nature to a destructive degree. We should be learning how to live with it, not live off it. Only then can we hope to see real progress in Ishmael’s goals for civilization.