Olivia Azuara
Ishmael Responses:
Quote Reaction 9/12/14
A quote that stood out to me in chapter eight was when Daniel Quinn wrote on page 134, “I mean, if you start taking more for yourself, then there’s got to be less for someone else, for something else.” I picked this quote because it connects to the rule which is: Take what you need, and leave the rest alone. To me these both are trying to connect to give us a bigger understanding of why to not be selfish. Taking only what you need gives other people and things to make something more useful out of it since they actually need it. I also chose this quote because it relates to another quote that interested me and stood out to me in this chapter on page 137 that says, “For as long as you enact the story, Mother Culture will demand increased food production today-and promise population control tomorrow.” What I got out of this quote was how Mother Culture is once again trying to make us look at something her way only. She is trying to persuade us on saying that we need to first solve that main problem by increasing our food production so everybody has enough to eat and that once that is done we will go on to fixing the population explosion. But what she isn't understanding and what she is trying to block out of other peoples minds is that with an increase of food production the population explosion will never be fixed.
Definition of Culture. Is There Still Some Leaver Culture In The Taker Culture? 9/18/14
I do agree with the definition of culture that the book came up with. I agree because when one generation has certain beliefs and certain knowledge that others don’t they pass it down to another generation to let them in on what is “right” since they personally are confident that the way they are doing things is the right way. As it gets passed down, if someone sees a flaw in something, they fix it to make it better and combine their old knowledge with their improved knowledge and pass it on making a cycle of trial and error to each generation. It also applies in a smaller way of action. For example, in individual families rather than a whole culture. One family can have a specific way of morals than another family thinking one specific thing is bad or good and then they teach their kids that. So the kids grow up with the thought in their head of what their parents told them on how to live then they pass it on to their children and as they grow they get to formulate their own thoughts and opinions on how to then raise their family but it is also influenced on how they were brought up as kids which also then again involves the trial and error. In my opinion I don’t think we have abandoned the Leaver culture entirely. The reason why I think this is because even to this day there is many religions that have different opinions on what you should and shouldn’t do which is why so many people live differently; and although there is similar ways of living between religions there are some that are completely different and do not relate in many ways.
Reaction To Ending Of The Book
I personally didn’t really like the ending of Ishmael. I feel like Ishmael shouldn’t have died he should have stayed alive and should have continued to talk to the narrator about how to go on and teach others with the new information that he learned. The message Daniel Quinn wanted to convey was that now that Ishmael is dead the narrator is now kind of forced to take on the role of a teacher and pass on his knowledge the way Ishmael wanted him to. The narrator will have to take Ishmaels teaching to heart and put them into practice and his first step to taking on this role was bye inheriting Ishmaels notebook and drawings that were left behind. The reason that I think that the author ended the book this way is so we could have a deeper thinking on what he was trying to get through to us. He wanted us to form our own thoughts instead of him influencing them with his opinions at the end. Although I didn’t really like the ending completely the message behind it fits and has made me ask lots of questions with in the text also.
Description: In the beginning of the year we read the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. We reflected deeply on what it was trying to say and would write responses on each chapter. Above are only a few of the many responses I wrote focusing on a specific chapter of the book.