Give to Recieve

After the previous chapter, the narrator’s new task is to teach all of what he extracted out of Ishmael's knowledge. In the context of the story there is another task for our narrator, one which is not given by Ishmael. The narrator has to get Ishmael out of that cage. The last chapter is dedicated to this task, resulting in the narrator's plan of rescuing Ishmael by getting together all of the money he can (which isn’t much more than two thousand dollars) to buy Ishmael from the owner and renting a van to take him home. The narrator shows his lack of confidence when he talks about how he is going to take him out of there. “As this indicates, I’m a one-step-at-a-time kind of guy. An improviser.” –Pg. 259

When the narrator arrives at the place where Ishmael was, he finds no circus but some papers and blankets which belong to Ishmael. He also finds an old man who he bribed some chapters ago. He informs the narrator that Ishmael is dead. “It was the pneumonia that got him – your friend the ape.” –Pg. 260. At the end of this chapter the narrator describes the poster which he had seen the first time he went in to Ishmael’s office. “The message on one side is the one Ishmael displayed on the wall of his den: With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla? The message on the other side reads: With gorilla gone, will there be hope for man?” With this message the author ends his book which can be interpreted by showing the connection and importance of each species in the survival of the others. It can also be seen as a personal example of the life of Ishmael, who always lived in two worlds, the gorilla world and the human world. It is also a final message for the reader to contribute to society, to give Ishmael’s message, to give knowledge to receive greatness.

Here ends a book that leaves a message for a greater world, a book that transforms us, makes us grow, and shows us the right way.