Our discussion last class glazed briefly over the story of Cain and Abel within the pages of “Ishmael”, and it got me to remember something one of my history teachers said about this era in human history. He said something along the lines of that this story may have been based on the Sumerian tale, which represented the conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers. This would make sense within the context of Ishmael’s teachings of Leavers and Takers as real presences within our (the readers’) collective past.
The story of Cain and Abel in relation to Ishmael’s teachings was imperative in leading the narrator to the conclusion that ‘the gods’ preferred a Leaver culture after creating a Taker culture. Cain represents the Takers as an agriculturalist and Abel represents the Leavers as a shepherd. When God (the gods) refused Cain’s offering of produce and crop in favor of Abel’s animal sacrifices, we see Ishmael’s teaching of Takers wiping out those that would be considered a ‘competitor’ take affect. Cain kills his competitor for God’s love and praise, his own brother, and commits the first murder.
Since Abel is the victim within this biblical/analogical story he is often also seen as the first martyr. The fate of the Takers is to eventually wipe out all of the Leavers, for they are competition to land and life. Ishmael explains that the Takers do all of this gladly as well as heartlessly, because they are blinded by their pride, selfishness, and their fundamental ‘truth’ that they are right. They are right to modernize and/or exterminate these primitive nomadic people because their way of life is wrong.
Would that therefore mean that the Leavers, even today, are in effect martyrs for a lost cause to live healthily with the world? What could that mean for Humanity?
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Lexi, I also thought about the story of Cain and Able. Throughout the novel, Daniel Quinn incorporates several biblical tales into the novel. In addition to Cain and Able, he also mentions the story of Adam and Eve. I believe he interworks these historical pieces in order to examplify his theory of the Leavers and the Takers.
ReplyDeleteEssentially, the Leavers are those who live within the hands of God; they understand their destiny and do not question their fate. On the other hand, the Takers know the difference between good and bad decisions. The Takers understand fate, and how they are told to their life, but they question this.
In the story of Adam and Eve, Adam is a taker. He is tempted by sin and takes from the tree of knowledge. By doing this, he is questioning the directions in which he was given. In a sense, he was destined to release sin to the world, and regardless of his actions, it was inevitably going to happen.