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  • Essay / Irony realized by Ishmael in “Mother Culture”

    In Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, the Mother Culture is the incarnation of undisputed influences according to which man is accustomed to live. His story tells the Takers that they were destined to lead the world to paradise; however, quite the opposite happened. Due to the Mother Culture's bias towards the Takers, the world has been plunged into a continuing fall that cannot be stopped. Mother Culture's favorable opinion of the Takers also leads to their arrogance and the irony of their story. The story of Mother Culture shows the irony of the Takers' failed attempt to create paradise. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay As a perpetuator of Taker culture, Mother Culture continually glorifies the flawed lifestyle based on ignorance and vanity. Ironically, the majority of Taker society is unaware of Mother Culture's existence, and thus, Ishmael enlightens the narrator as to who Mother Culture is. “Mother Culture teaches you that this is how it should be” (37). The Mother Culture is essentially a guru to the Takers and the backbone of their lives. It teaches Takers who they are and what they are meant to be. “With the exception of a few thousand savages scattered here and there, all the peoples of the earth now enact this story” (37). Although Mother Culture has stories for both the Takers and the Leavers, she believes that all of humanity should follow the story of the Takers. It views less civilized beings as savages, which creates pride and forms the basis of the global downfall initiated by the Takers. The Mother Culture profoundly influences the lifestyle of the Takers, deifying the obvious flaws that the Takers exhibit. The story of the Mother Culture's paradise creates a damaging arrogance in the Takers' way of life. Ishmael says, reiterating the Narrator's belief: "The world was created so that man could conquer and rule it, and under human rule it was meant to become a paradise" (82). The pedestal that Takers are placed on creates an arrogance in their way of life. The Takers believe that they are the prophesied rulers of the world and that it is entirely theirs; This leads to a selfish mindset that is largely responsible for their twisted perception of the overall history of the Mother Culture. The Takers' arrogance, fueled by the Mother Culture, is not only harmful to Earth, it also harms the Takers' ability to undo the harm they have caused. The Mother Culture's construction of the Taker's story created their disastrous pride. Ironically, the Taker's lifestyle has led them to believe that they are always right, when in fact they couldn't be more wrong. “The story that the Takers have played out here over the past ten thousand years is not only disastrous for humanity and the world, it is fundamentally unhealthy and unsatisfying…” (147). Takers believe that their actions benefit the entire world. , especially themselves, because all they see is the short-term benefit their actions have on their own species. In reality, the Takers' actions are subjecting the world to a slow death through power-hungry methods of living. megalomaniac fantasy, and its implementation gave the Takers a culture riddled with greed, cruelty, mental illness, criminality, and drug addiction” (147). Takers see “personal profit” instead of destruction over everything else. and the ignorant obsession with power leads them to continue their dangerous lifestyle. Mother Culture's Taker Culture story has.