MJ

Captivity & Laws

In Daniel Quinns novel, Ishmael, a gorilla and a man work
together as teacher and student to take a journey through the mind. As
the two venture deep into their thoughts they come to the realization
that human culture is causing a major disruption on Earth. There are
two broad cultures in which humans fall under, the Taker culture and
Leaver culture. The Taker culture is the civilization that most people
have adopted, those who abandoned hunting and gathering, and
embraced agriculture. The Takers also believe man was the sole
purpose for the worlds creation and believe man is above all else. The
Leavers, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. They strive for
interdependence of all species and believe all creatures are equal. The
grand scheme and purpose of this book is to open peoples eyes to the
disaster humans have created on Earth and the large likelihood that
the human civilization will soon come crashing down. Two concepts
incorporated in Ishmael reflect the purpose very much so. These
concepts are the agricultural revolution and the laws or aerodynamics
and gravity.
The agricultural revolution, which began in 8,000 B.C, was the
single event that changed the world forever and marked the beginning
of the Taker civilization.

While most historical events have a distinct start and end date, the
agricultural revolution has yet to come to an end. It continues to
spread worldwide. Ishmael further explains this here; Its [agriculture]
the foundation of your vast civilization today in exactly the same way
that it was the foundation of the very first farming village. (Quinn 153)
The agricultural revolution is one of the most important aspects in
Ishmael because agriculture set Takers apart from all other species.
With farming came a lesser worry of keeping a small population
because of a steady food supply. This has now led to over population
of humans all over the world. Also, with more people, boundaries of
villages began to be pushed to make room for the larger masses of
humans. This cut down on homes for other animals, and still does
today. This major event marked the beginning of the end. Once
farming was established, the Taker civilization was already headed in
the wrong direction. Farming made humans think that they were at a
higher status than all other living things, because agriculture also led
to technological advances and intellectual innovations, so humans
began to think that they were outsmarting all other animals.
The section of Ishmael on laws is all a metaphor, comparing the
laws of aerodynamics and gravity to the taker civilization. Ishmael tells
a story about an airman who pushes his flying machine off of a cliff and
as he is free falling he is ecstatic. He thinks his machine has taken off
and is soaring through the sky, with no worry or doubt in his mind. As

he continues to free fall, the airman realizes how close he is to the

ground. This is a metaphor to the Taker society. For so long, these
people thought they had the best civilization, and not until it was too
late to make a change, did they realize how horrid the culture had
become. Ishmael explains to Everyman how the Takers felt as they
metaphorically took off in their cultural airplane.
At first all was well. In fact, all was terrific. The
Takers were pedaling away and the wings of
their craft were flapping beautifully. They felt
wonderful, exhilarated. They were
experiencing the freedom of the air: freedom
from restraints that bind and limit the rest of
the biological community. And with that
freedom came marvels- all the things you
mentioned the other day: urbanization,
technology, literacy mathematics, science.
(107)
Here, the Takers were blinded by new innovations that they thought
were bettering their civilization. The food supply kept getting greater,
new tools were being made, and new scientific discoveries were
coming about, of course the Takers believed that nothing was wrong.
They did not realize that trying to change the natural order of the world
is not the purpose of life. In doing so, this civilization is metaphorically

about to make a crash landing. Unfortunately, the damage done is

already too great to take back. Daniel Quinn really shows a new
perspective by sharing this story. He shows readers that their
civilization is really not the soaring, beautiful society that Mother
Culture has told them it is. He shows the underlying danger in the
harm we are causing to the world.
Daniel Quinn does a wonderful job giving a new perspective of
life to his readers in Ishmael. The agricultural revolution is what
started the entire Taker civilization, and the aerodynamic and gravity
laws show readers that this society is about to crash. The purpose of
this book was to open peoples eyes to the destruction being caused
on Earth because of Takers, and these two topics helped to provide
that purpose.