Gilgamesh Tablets 1,2 And 3: Gilgamesh Or Enkidu?

Gilgamesh starts by telling us how great Gilgamesh was and telling how he did this wonderful journey and knew the things before the flood. They also tell us that he is bigger than a normal man and is way stronger. He built the city of Uruk and people in my opinion considered him more like a god. “Two-thirds a god, one-third a man, the king” pg 4. The people of the city started asking the goddess that made Gilgamesh to make another one, to fill his stormy heart, to be at the same level as him, to return peace to Uruk. The goddess created another equal who was called Enkindu; he was a wild man of the grasslands, a wild animal living besides animals and had the same size and strength as Gilgamesh.
A hunter was hunting and saw him and asked Gilgamesh what to do. He told them to send a temple prostitute to soften him and make him fall with her. The women called Shamhat traveled with the hunter and showed Enkindu her beauty. Sometimes women are the only ones that can soften the hardest heart and can make fall in love the maddest men. Shamhat convinced Enkindu to go with her to Uruk. When they got there he challenged Gilgamesh and had a fight so fierce that they destroyed a lot of stuff. At the end Gilgamesh had Enkindu on his feet and got him up and hugged him and accepted him as a brother. They became very close and Enkindu told him the tale that Huwawa a demon of the forest that will breathe fire and whenever he breathes death comes and will not let people cut the cedar. They decided to join forces and go to this dangerous trip together to kill this demon and bring peace to the forest. Who will be the strongest, the hero, and the best? Gilgamesh or Enkindu?

Ch 13: Ishmael dead, hope for character?

When the main character had devised a plan to buy Ishmael and take him to his house, he found out while looking for a place to eat breakfast that a sign in his car panel read “too hot.” He had to go to the nearest place where there was a mechanic on duty. The mechanic said that the radiator was not working and that he needed to get a new fan. The character was able to get back to his house and leave the car at a dealer garage to be fixed. “Handle a problem until you actually have it” pg 259 He there admits that he doesn’t really think things too much, he is more like an improviser. Sometimes it works to be improviser because you don’t need too much time to think about important events or decisions. But it sometimes (most of the times) it comes in handy to be prepared. He finds out that the car repairs are going to cost too much and they will take some time so he decided to rent a van and go to visit Ishmael. When he got there he found out that the carnival had moved on but went to where Ishmael had been by figuring out where it was located by memory. When he got there he found an old guy who told him: “It was the Pneumonia that got him-your friend the ape.” pg 260. I think that at this moment the world of the character totally collapsed. He had been the best pupil Ishmael had had (according to how far they got) and Ishmael had been the mentor that had taught him how to live. Then he calls to Mr. Partridge, the butler of Mr. Sokolow, and told him that they could have saved him. Mr. Partridge asked him if he really thought that he would have let them save him.
When he got home he went to frame the poster of Ishmael and discovered another Question. “With gorilla gone, will there be hope for man?” pg 263 for me this quotation is the most important from the book because it really gives like a foreshadow of the characters future because Ishmael who was a gorilla was his mentor and with the mentor gone will there be hope for student?

Ch 12: Are the Leavers the only ones that can save the world?

The main character really seems interested in buying Ishmael because he still tries to negotiate with Art Owens who is the current owner of the gorilla. “What happens to people- to creatures in general-who live in the hands of the gods. Ah yes I see, they evolve.” Pg 237 Creatures who decide to rule themselves and not be in hand of the gods will stop evolving. So when Adam ate the fruit of knowledge and thought that we didn’t need gods anymore we stopped evolving. I really think that we continue evolving but according to Ishmael we don’t. “Man became man by living in the hands of the gods.” Pg 237. So according to Ishmael only the Bushmen of Africa, Indians of Brazil and practically Leavers are still constantly evolving. All evolution is happening thanks to creatures still being in the hands of the gods. The takers story tells us that evolution stopped when man was created so in enacting the Taker story we are stopping the evolution and in one point creation will reach to an end. Leavers premise is that man belongs to the world and they will continue evolving forever, but the Taker premise is that world belongs to man so they stopped evolving. Man does have a role in this world that is to be like the experiment rats of the entire world because we are the first to discover. We are going to be the role models of other creatures because we will be the ones that experiment all the life and when we fail we will leave to the other creatures the correct way to live. “This is what we need. Not just stopping things. Not just less of things. People need something positive to work for.” Pg 243 this quote reminded me of another one said earlier that was that you can’t just stop enacting a story; you have to be in another story. Taker civilization today still is destroying Leavers like in Cain and Abel. We are still taking up land in where Indian live to search for resources, for petroleum for water. If we are destroying the few Leavers that are left, when there will be no turning point, how are we going to be able to save the world? Then they talk about how to save the world and Ishmael tells him that they have to stop killing Leavers. Then they talk about Ishmael’s past students and he tells the character that he had an ex convict as pupil and that in jail there are also the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, etc. You would tend to think that all are treated equal and that is how it is supposed to be but also the world is corrupt. We can also think as the taker world being a cultural jail and the free people being the Leavers. So are the Leavers the only ones that can save the world?

Ch11. Are we really superior?

“Something that would give me the feeling I wasn’t the only one here who was supposed to be using his brain.” Pg 212 Ishmael states this sentence at the beginning of this chapter when the character wanted to be told the story of the Leavers. Ishmael kept asking him to give him a good reason to tell it and he kept responding words without much thought like: Why wouldn’t I be interested? Why not? Naturally if you told me the taker part I should know the Leaver. In some parts as I read the book I also thought that the main character was sometimes like wandering off and really not using his brain at its full potential. “They tried to stop living like Takers, but there was no other way for them to live. They failed because you can’t just stop being in a story, you have to have another story to be in.” pg 214 This quote has a very true significance that is if you are part of a group and you want to leave it you have to find another group because if not you would not know where to change. “Mother culture teaches that, before the revolution, human life was devoid of meaning, was stupid, empty and worthless. Prerevolutionary life was ugly. Detestable.” Pg 216 Mother culture has a lots of influence in us, it basically tells us what to do under certain situations. Mother culture also says that the Leavers didn’t know the benefits of agriculture but most people don’t know that before the plain Indians had horses they were agricultural people but after horses arrived they preferred to go back to hunting and gathering. “Takers believe in their revolution, even when they enjoy none of its benefits. There are no grumblers, no dissidents, and no counterrevolutionaries. They all believe profoundly that, however bad things are now, they’re still infinitely preferable to what came before.” Pg 219 I disagree with this quote because if you have a miserable life and you have the opportunity to change it to a primitive but happier life I would change it. “ When we want a yam, we simply go and dig one up – and if there are none to be found, we find something else just as good.” Pg 224 Leavers really live a life according to the world they don’t try to dominate it , they live along with it and life should be like that if you can’t get what you want just find comfort in other object and think of it as best. Leavers don’t really mind living like the rest of the animals they are like at the same level of life. We normally think that we are superior to the rest of the animals but if we have to face like a lion for power like one on one we won’t win we need our tools they are really stronger. Humans think that life is on their hand that they are greater than the gods but they can’t control nature so they are really in the hands of god unless we find a way to control everything in the planet. “The Takers are those who know good and evil, and the Leavers are…..? The Leavers are those who live in the hands of the gods.” Pg 229 so are we really like stronger or smarter than the Leavers?

The culture of the Leavers

The uncle of the main character comes to visit and is expected to be entertained. “I thought it would be a day; it turned out to be two and a half." pg 187 what I could get from this quote is that he is not very content from the visit this uncle is giving to him. Really I think this reaction from the character is due to the fact that he created a very big bond with Ishmael and also a kind of dependency. He feels like if he must reach Ishmael as soon as possible and keep gaining knowledge from him but a question I ask myself is: What would happen if Ishmael died? Would he get like a big depression?
Then another he had a tooth ache which prevented him from reaching Ishmael soon as he hoped. Sometimes when you really need something really bad some obstacles may come your way maybe to test how much you want and need the object or person. When the character finally is able to reach Ishmael he finds out that he is gone so he has to look for him. (Could be also to test desire to get to him) After lots of looking he finds the house of the Sokolows and finds out that Mrs. Sokolow has died and the butler of the house did not know a way how to reach Ishmael. The main character placed an ad in the news to try to locate Ishmael’s friends to find him. After no good results he tracked down a carnival that had been in town by the time Ishmael disappeared. He got to the carnival and found this ad: " of having Gargantua the worlds most famous gorilla" As soon as this character saw this he knew he was in the right track, he found him in a corner of the station and asked him if he was sore because Ishmael didn't seem very happy to see him. He told him to not patronize him and there comes again the dependency he created on Ishmael. “So what are you going to do? Do I just become failure number five, or what?" pg 195 Then Ishmael told him to leave him alone and the character had to find a motel in which to stay while he had the lessons from Ishmael.
Culture is "It's the sum total of what's passed along, of course, not just information and techniques. It's beliefs, assumptions, theories, customs, legends, songs, stories, dances, jokes, superstitions, prejudices, tastes, attitudes, Everything." pg 199. What I get from this quote is that culture is really what you are. Everything you do what you eat how you eat is influenced by this so a basic rule of life is your culture. Ishmael also states that according to Mother Culture everything in the past should be discarded and never thought of again. I really disagree with this because you base your decisions on past events and experiences to make a correct choice this time so if you forget your past you will make same mistakes again and again. A main difference between takers and leavers is that leavers have like a link or a chain to the past that is where they base their lives. “Leaver culture is an accumulation of knowledge that reaches back in an unbroken chain to the beginnings of human life." pg 204. The taker point of view is that everything in the past should be discarded so they really disagree in terms of past. " Every one of the Leaver's ways came into being by evolution, by a process of testing that began even before people had a word for it." pg 205. In the takers part we need a person to give out laws to tell you how to live, we need a Hammurabi, A Moses, and A Muhammad. So is really the way the Leavers live a way so awful that everyone has to hate? Are they as uncivilized as we think?

Ishmael: the learning of the key to survive

Ishmael was a book that can perturbate you, can make you think a lot and can really teach you how to live a life where the human race stops destroying earth and at the same time save themselves. For me personally experienced all these three sensations as I read the book and when i most thought about the book was when I finished it.In the begging you can think that the main character and the most important person is Ishmael the teacher but as you read along and find out that the gorilla is really a superior being that is the only one that can change the life of this human. The gorilla could be a symbol of knowledge. "The world was made for man and man was made to conquer and rule it."pg. 74 This quote really means that without man in the world it would be a total anarchy and the world would be a chaos. Since there would not be a definite ruler all would be fighting for it. When I read this I thought more deeply into it. We would tend to think of this anarchy but for example if you go to the rain forest you won't find all a chaos and fighting you would instead find everything working perfectly, a flea bites you, then a toad eats the flea, then a small mammal eats the toad, then a bigger one eats, and the whole cycle starts a gain so it is not a chaos it is a balanced lifestyle.In this book you also find parts when the book shows you that humans are wrong and that was when I got perturbated because it is true is like if all your life you had thought something was right and kept doing it until one moment when someone tells you it is wrong and they are right. A quote I found that really went along with this part was: "Trail and error is not a bad way to learn how to build an aircraft, but it can be a disastrous way to learn how to build a civilization."pg. 110Ishmael for me was not the teacher of only the main character personally for me that gorilla that at the beginning was a usual gorilla became like a sage who teaches all his pupils (including the ones that read the book) the way how to live. The main quote of this book for me the one that had me more time thinking is the one that the book ends with. "With gorilla gone will there be hope for man,"pg. 263 you would normally think that it is the other way because if humans go away gorillas will be more free and they would not be hunted so much so they will. In this quote I though of it in 3 ways. The first way is that nothing will happen because man doesn't depend on the gorilla. The other way is with the story: with Ishmael gone will the main character survive. And the one that gave me most thought was the third one that is without a teacher will the pupil survive? If you had a teacher that teaches you how to really live and he is more like a mentor, when he is gone will the one that depends so much on him survive.

Answers

A. What is the difference between a blog and a book?
The difference between a blog and a book is that in a blog you can write about anything and put all the pictures videos and media you want , but in a book there are mostly words and books go slow so you can imagine and figure out the idea instead of the book giving it to you like the blog.




B. How have blogs changes recently?
Recently blogs have had more variety in their subjects. There are sport blogs, medical blogs, political blogs, gadget blogs and many other more. The number of blogs today is very big and everyday it grows more. Since anyone can do a blog and reply on it you have to be careful with the information you get out from it.


C. Why might you read a blog?
You might read a blog to find quick answers on one subject without much research, to get more knowledge about a certain subject, maybe to reply on it or you can use it to check out new music and new movies.


D. Is there reason to doubt the objectivity of a blog? Why? Why not?
I think you should doubt it because you do not really know the person who wrote that and maybe he changed the truth a bit. The only way i would trust a blog is probably if it is the writer of a very big and well known company or newspaper, or a person I know really well.


E. If you kept your own blog, what would you title it?
If I kept my own blog I would probably title it like The things I like best because if I am going to talk about something I would rather know a bit about the subject than invent most of the articles of my blog. Probably I would talk about tennis and soccer.