Ishmael

Early on, the narrator identifies his own desire to find a teacher. Why does he want a teacher, and what does he want to learn? Why can’t he discover the information he wants on his own?

Obviously, Ishmael being a telepathic gorilla is fantastic, but why would Quinn choose to make his sage character a gorilla? What does his animal nature give Ishmael in terms of authority or wisdom that a human teacher would not have?

Why does Ishmael have the narrator speak into a recorder? At what points does Ishmael tell the narrator to play back the tape, and what is the significance of the narrator listening to his own voice in those cases?