Ishmael

The narrator returns to Ishmael confident that he understands the middle and end of the Takers’ story. He says that the middle of the story begins when humanity developed to the point of understanding the limitations of hunting and gathering. To settle in one place and begin developing, humanity had to develop a means of manipulating the environment to avoid scarcity of food, which became agriculture 10,000 years prior to the present day. From there, humanity developed technology and science to continue progressing.

Ishmael clarifies that the previous day’s lesson was about the nature of the Takers’ perception of the world, whereas today’s is about the destiny that this meaning creates for humanity. The narrator says that humanity’s destiny is to accomplish and create civilization, but Ishmael urges him to think more mythologically.

Ishmael asks the narrator to imagine the world without humanity, and the narrator does so, saying that he is viewing this imaginary world from space. Ishmael asks why he is not on the surface of the planet, and the narrator says that he is afraid of the wild animals living in the jungle of the Earth. From this, Ishmael shows how the Takers’ culture has a goal of creating order in the world.