I Am A Jellyfish

After I started reading Ishmael, I found myself having troubles putting it down. At first I thought it was because I was enjoying the book, but after finishing the entire novel, I realized that it wasn't the book that got me. In brief, I liked the book, but I didn't love it. I didn't like the ending, but at the same time, it is understandable. There was nothing left for Quinn to say. I agreed with some of the theories in the story, but I also disagreed with some of the new interpretations. With a quick reflection, it seems that I did not have any strong feelings about the novel, but why couldn't I put it down?

The stories got to me. There's something about storytelling that seems to intrigue all humans. Everyone grows up hearing stories, whether it's about a wolf and some pigs or a family tradition, we all hear them from a very early age. I have taken a liking to stories as my favorite novel in American Literature was Silko's Ceremony, where most of my peers liked Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. 

There was one story in Quinn's novel that I took a particular liking to. The story of the jellyfish. In my opinion, this story does a very good job of representing human culture. We put ourselves before everything. 

"If the world was made for us, then it belongs to us and we can do what we damn well please with it."

 Humans have taken control of Earth. We no longer live according to the rules of nature, but we make nature exist in a way that works for us. Instead of coexisting with every other species on the planet, we have put ourselves above every other animal, and now you have to pay to go see these animals, when in reality, we are just another creation in the chain of evolution.

At the rate of which humanity expands, eventually there will not be any room for anything except for humans and our increasing technology based world. If we don't find a balance between our culture and nature, everything natural will be gone before we know it. As someone who is content with walking in the woods, and hiking in mountains, this is a very scary idea, but with every technological advancement, we get closer and closer to exterminating the natural world that we once lived in.

Works Cited

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael. Bantam Books. New York, New York: 1992.