The Message from Ishmael Quinn gains a unique perspective on humanity through the novel's main character, Ishmael. Ishmael is a gorilla. And Ishmael is a teacher who communicates telepathically with humans. On the surface, this hardly appears to be a character who would appear in a serious book; more likely a children's story, a fairy tale or perhaps a bad science fiction novel. Yet Ishmael is none of these, and Ishmael has a strong character, with a powerful intellect and serious purpose. The character of Ishmael must be non-human to be effective. Observing civilization from the outside gives him a perspective from which to criticize humanity without hypocrisy. Hearing the oppressor repent is not as effective as hearing the voice of the oppressed demanding freedom and restitution. At the beginning of Ishmael, the author writes about a day in his life when he found what he thought was a truly ridiculous advertisement in the personals section. of a newspaper: THE TEACHER is looking for a student. Must have a sincere desire to save the world. Apply in person. Investigating with the aim of reporting a fraud, he came across Ishmael in room 105 of a nondescript office building. Ishmael sat calmly, nibbling on a thin branch. Momentarily shocked, Quinn stumbled towards a chair. He looked into the gorilla's eyes and, to his shock, the eyes spoke calmly to him. Nodding in response to an unspoken question, Ishmael spoke silently, "I am the teacher." In language of the kind one might expect from an educated man speaking to a friend, Ishmael told Quinn the story of his life. Much of it was spent in captivity, before a wealthy older man befriended and educated him. At the end of Ishmael's tale, Quinn was still a little confused. I sat there for a minute, then I said, "I'm trying to figure out what all this has to do with saving the world." Ishmael thought for a moment. "Among the people of your culture, who wants to destroy the world?" "Who wants to destroy it? As far as I know, no one specifically wants to destroy the world." "And yet you destroy it, each of you. Each of you contributes daily to the destruction of the world." "Yes, that's right." "Why don't you stop?