The story of Ishmael begins when a man is reading a paper in his home and discovers an ad which reads Teacher Seeks Pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person. After throwing the ad into the garbage can the man decides to dig it out and see what it is all about. Going to the address in the ad the man discovers an old office of some sort. There are but only a few items in the room. To his surprise he discovers a gorilla which is sitting behind a window. Soon enough he finds out that the gorilla Ishmael is the teacher. The story continues on with Ishmael telling his story first about how he began to learn of the world at a zoo and how he began to understand what the people were saying that came to see him. After Ishmael finishes the story of how he came to be the adventurous travels that the pupil is about to embark on begins. First off Ishmael goes over some vocabulary with the pupil so that when they begin the pupil will understand what Ishmael is talking about. Through a series of days Ishmael begins to guide his newfound pupil. He teaches him about the mythology that is our society and about the takers and the leavers. Throughout the book the pupil seems to hold back on believing what Ishmael is saying but he eventually and always understands it. The book goes on to talk about the law that must be followed in order for the human civilization to survive. One day when the pupil comes back he discovers that Ishmael is missing and he decides that he must find him. Finally tracking him down he finds him at a circus in a cage. After talking with him on several more occasions he returns one day to find that Ishmael has passed away. One of the things that he finds is the sign that he originally saw when he went to the office building that read. With man gone will there be hope for gorilla? He also discovered that something was written on the other side. With gorilla gone will there be hope for...
