What Works Well

At the beginning of chapter ten, the narrator explains he has been busy with a family visit, a job with a close due date and a dental problem. When our narrator gets back to the office where he and Ishmael have shared their deep conversations, he finds out from a janitor who is locking the office that Ishmael has been evicted. This changes the setting and the pace of the story completely.

The narrator’s search for Ishmael begins with the secretary of the building, who doesn’t reveal much information on whom or what got Ishmael out of office. He then searches the directory for information on the Sokolows’ who first rescued Ishmael from the menagerie. He didn’t have a match with the direct protector of Ishmael but he got in contact with a personal assistant or butler of Mr. Sokolow’s wife. This employee informs him that Mrs. Sokolow’s daughter had died three months ago and that he knew nothing else about Ishmael’s whereabouts. So he had to start the search all over again. He hoped to get a message through a personal ad in the newspaper to see if someone would call but as that didn’t work out, he investigated where they could possibly take a gorilla. He was finally enlightened and got in contact with a sort of moving circus which was north of where he lived. He found Ishmael in a cage at the circus.

As he began speaking with Ishmael it was clear that he didn’t want to talk. After giving Ishmael some space and doing lots of thinking, he returns and get’s Ishmael to talk again. They have an interesting conversation about what a culture is and they finally came up with the idea that a culture is information of what is useful passed on from generation to generation. “It’s the sum of what is passed along, of course, not just information and techniques. It’s beliefs, assumptions, theories, customs, legends, songs, stories, dances, jokes, superstitions, prejudices, tastes, attitudes. Everything” -Pg. 199

Then they specified the idea to what is useful and not to each type of living: the taker and leaver ways. In what has to do with the takers, the useful information one can find is recent. It doesn’t have to do much with old civilizations. “What I mean is that the people of your culture thought that man was born one of you. It was assumed that farming is as instinctive to man as honey production is to bees.” –Pg. 201 “In short, ancient customs are nice for institutions, ceremonies, and holidays, but takers don’t want to adopt them for everyday living.” –Pg. 202 One can also say that taker “useful information” has to do with production since we are in an expanding civilization searching for food to satisfy our increased population. “Anything related to production was definitely saved. And that’s how things came to be this way.” –Pg. 203

On the other hand, leaver people aren’t only searching for what is productive but what is valuable for them depending on their location, habitat and food preferences. “I’d say it comes to what works well for them.” –Pg. 203 It is also very interesting how the narrator and Ishmael conclude that each leaver culture is different from one another. In my personal opinion, I believe this is very valid since distant cultures have developed different physical and physiological differences depending on what they have and what they do.

I look forward to what Ishmael has to say and how this story is going to develop in the circus. Will Ishmael move with the narrator?