Ishmael Three

In the closing chapters of Ishmael, Daniel Quinn explicitly reveals his view of the causality of the exploitation that he critiques throughout the novel. In doing so, Quinn explicitly distinguishes his view from many other theories prominent in the social sciences. Ishmael explains to the narrator that “the world of the Takers is one vast prison, and except for a handful of Leavers scattered across the world, the entire human race is now inside that prison” (251). In a way, Quinn is arguing that humanity enslaved to its desires. The narrator eventually reaches the conclusion that the goal of this prison industry is “consuming the world” (252). As a result, Ishmael places the shifting of consciousnesses and grassroots education at the forefront of its strategies for resistance. This runs in the face of the strategies of many prominent Leftists, who give preference to social justice amongst humans. Ishmael argues, “What is crucial to your survival as a race is not the redistribution of power and wealth within the prison but rather the destruction of the prison itself” (252-3). In the view of anti-capitalists, “avoiding giving central importance to the emancipation of labor - tends to vitiate the anarchist reading of things, and loses concreteness” (Kovel 197-8). By denying the importance of internal hierarchies within humanity, Daniel Quinn is distinguishing his solution from the frequently accepted social critique from Marxist schools of thought. For Quinn, only a confrontation with desire and our own complicity in the system through the education of other individuals can bring systemic change.

prisoners

Some interesting analysis is also presented regarding racial diversity. When drawing the distinction between rearranging hierarchies within the prison and overthrowing the prison overall, Ishmael concedes that “white males—have called the shots inside the prison for thousands of years, perhaps even from the beginning” (252). By making this concession, Ishmael acknowledges that racial hierarchies are a systemic problem in the social order. Ishmael views the broader movement that he is attempting to initiate as being a solution to these racial striations. The complete rejection of consumer culture is “a common cause to which all humanity can subscribe” (253). It appears that Daniel Quinn views this social cause as one that the entirety of humanity can rally around, providing an opportunity for an inclusive and racially diverse society to emerge from the ashes of the waste and greed that characterize the status quo.

racial diversity

Joel Kovel. The Enemy of Nature. Zed Books: New York (2007). Pg. 197-198.