Ishmael: Chapter 13 Summary & Analysis

The narrator has learned a great deal from Ishmael, but he’s still unsure what to do with the information. His plan to escape with Ishmael is badly thought out, reflecting his uncertainty about how to use the knowledge he’s been given. He’s still in the stage of trying to apply simplified ideals to the complexities of reality.

It has often seemed as if the narrator is focusing on Ishmael too much—that is, relying on his advice instead of thinking things through for himself. Ironically, it now seems as if the narrator hasn’t paid enough attention to Ishmael—he didn’t notice that Ishmael was dying until it was too late. While the narrator did bring Ishmael blankets, he should have also been quicker in his plan to buy him from the circus. Instead, Ishmael exists in the novel as a martyr, dying as a direct result of his investment in educating the narrator.

We wonder if Partridge knew about Ishmael’s intelligence all along, since he assumes that Ishmael had agency and personal views. At its close, the world of the novel starts to expand—to other people who might seem ignorant about the Takers and the Leavers, but are actually more aware than they let on.

With the poster, the novel comes full circle in an elegant way. While the first of the two questions posed here had seemed ambiguous, like a Zen koan, the second seems almost perfectly straightforward: now that Ishmael is dead, what will the narrator do? Will he return to his Taker lifestyle, or will he endeavor to spread Ishmael’s teachings to others? As we think about this problem, it becomes clear what the answer is. The narrator has spread Ishmael’s teachings, by writing the book we’ve just finished. Thus, the poster isn’t merely asking the narrator what he’ll do next—it’s also challenging us, the readers, to take the knowledge we’ve gained by reading Ishmael and translate it into action.