For instance, little happens outside their discussions, besides small movements, like Ishmael chewing on a leafy branch.

To begin, Part 4 makes it clear that Ishmael and the narrator will not develop the way characters might in a typical plot-driven novel. In Part 4, Quinn establishes Ishmael and the narrator as archetypes rather than fully developed characters and addresses the novel's central question regarding the current state of the world. The narrator realizes that while the Taker cultural story suggests that things are the way they are because man had to fulfill his destiny of conquering everything, really things are the way they are because man hasn't become the ruler of the world, but its destroyer and enemy. He pushes the narrator to think on it more deeply. At this point, the narrator admits his astonishment because he realizes that all around him he hears about man conquering things - from deserts to outer space.īut this isn't enough for Ishmael. Thus, Ishmael helps the narrator see the next part of the story: man was put on Earth to rule it, and to do so he had to conquer it. Ishmael is impressed with the narrator's ability to distinguish this part of the story, but he pushes the narrator to continue: so why must man do this? What's the purpose of rising above the other animals? Ishmael has the narrator imagine an Earth without humans on it the narrator imagines a wild jungle and admits he'd be reluctant to live in such a world as he'd be at the mercy of fierce predators. But, for humankind to achieve its destiny, it had to discover agriculture, which provided it with the means of staying in one place and developing civilization and technology. He says the middle of the story is humankind's time as hunter-gatherers, a time when they were living much as other animals do.

The narrator returns to Ishmael's office ready to explain the middle and end of the story of Taker culture.

Ismael quinn