Line #24 Literature/Ishmael1992


1	[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ish.jpg]]
2
3	''Ishmael'' is a philosophical novel written by Daniel Quinn and published in 1992. The book begins with our narrator finding an ad in the paper that states:
4
5	->''TEACHER SEEKS PUPIL.\
6	Must have an earnest desire to save the world.\
7	Apply in person.''
8
9	Jaded by the lack of change that occurred during the 60s, the narrator answers this ad to confront this so-called teacher, and ends up learning about just how the world works.
10
11	This novel is the first in a trilogy that includes ''My Ishmael'' and ''The Story of B''.
12
13	Not to be confused with the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Literature/Ishmael1985''.
14	----
15	!!This book contains the following tropes:
16	* AllTakeAndNoGive: What seems to be implied by the name 'Takers', as opposed to the 'Leavers'. The full meaning is more that the Takers take the government of the world out of the gods' hands, while the Leavers are willing to leave the world in it.
17	* ArtisticLicenseStatistics: The main thrust of Ishmael's argument is that increasing food production leads to an increase in population, which in turn renders the increase in food production meaningless and creates a ViciousCycle that ends with everyone starving. Statistics have ''not'' supported this Malthusian argument; current estimates have the world stabilizing at around 10 billion people, with the main cause of starvation in impoverished countries being a lack of ''access'' and ''distribution'' rather than supply.
18	* BittersweetEnding:
19	** The narrator is Ishmael's first successful student and learns all that he needs to know, but [[spoiler:Ishmael dies]].
20	** In the sequel, [[spoiler:we find out that he actually faked his death so his student would quit following him around and go apply what he'd been taught]].
21	* CainAndAbel: Takers and Leavers, basically. Specifically, Ishmael theorizes the social conditions (competition between takers and leavers) under which the framework of the story of Cain and Abel arose.
22	* CallARabbitASmeerp: Takers and Leavers, for, roughly, hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists. The difference is more complex than that, which is why he invents the new terminology.
23	* CatchYourDeathOfCold: [[spoiler:Ishmael [[FakingTheDead seems]] to do just that.]]
24	* DidntSeeThatComing: Bet you weren't expecting to find out that Ishmael is actually [[spoiler:a telepathic gorilla]].
25	* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:As shown in the sequel ''My Ishmael'', he didn't actually die]].
26	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The ultimate consequences of Taker cultures ruling the earth.
27	* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: The nameless narrator tells the story of Ishmael.
28	* GentleGorilla: [[spoiler:Ishmael]] is a tame, wise gorilla. [[spoiler:He has telepathic powers to converse with the narrator]].
29	* GodIsFlawed: The Taker reasoning, according to the narrator, is that the gods made man to rule the world, but the gods were incompetent and made man flawed. Therefore, man has to take his destiny into his own hands.
30	* HardTruthAesop: The book argues that if people are starving, it's better to let them starve and get the population back into sustainable limits. Cruel to that particular tribe, yes, but it means future generations will be living with enough food. Increasing food production -- no matter where on Earth -- won't eliminate starvation, since the population will increase in proportion and people will continue to starve.
31	* ItMakesSenseInContext: Actually, even after you find out what [[spoiler:the teacher really is]], it still doesn't really make sense. You just roll with it.
32	* KillerGorilla: [[spoiler: Ishmael]], when he was younger, was a circus gorilla, with the advertising playing up his ferocity. He didn't quite understand why.
33	%%* {{Koan}}:
34	%%--->WITH MAN GONE\
35	WILL THERE\
36	BE HOPE\
37	FOR GORILLA?
38	%%::The rejoinder:
39	%%--->[[spoiler:WITH GORILLA GONE]]\
40	[[spoiler:WILL THERE]]\
41	[[spoiler:BE HOPE]]\
42	[[spoiler:FOR MAN?]]
43	* LuddWasRight: An extreme version -- any method of food production beyond hunting and gathering is unnatural for humanity and will lead to suffering. The advent of farming moved humanity outside of the natural order and set them up, artificially, as gods over the world.
44	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Before Ishmael was called Ishmael, his name was [[DavidVersusGoliath Goliath]].
45	* NobleSavage: Mentioned and refuted by Ishmael.
46	* OverpopulationCrisis: In Ishmael's view, the inevitable result of humanity's unnaturally large food production through commercial agriculture. More food = more people, until finally the numbers tip and humans begin to starve.
47	* ScrewDestiny: What Takers evidently say to the gods and the rest of the world. It doesn't turn out well, since it makes them arrogant, and they/we start [[AndManGrewProud growing proud]].
48	* ShoutOut: Quite a lot of references including but not limited to: Stonehenge, the Piped Piper, the Rosetta Stone, the second murderer in ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}''...
49	* SternTeacher: Ishmael teaches via the Socratic method, where the teacher asks leading questions, lets the student come to a false conclusion, and then collapses that conclusion so the student comes to the right answer through their own work.
50	* SugarBowl: There's a bit where the eponymous [[ItMakesSenseInContext gorilla]] attempts to illustrate his main point by making the case for how a world in which people [[ImAHumanitarian eat other people]] could be one of these.

Context Literature / Ishmael1992