Ishmael

When the narrator arrives for the next lesson, Ishmael is in the room instead of behind the glass partition. They are both a little nervous to be in one another’s space, but Ishmael presents a diagram to start the lesson. The diagram shows a line from 3,000,000 BCE to 2,000 CE, representing the narrative of the Leavers; then, he adds an offshoot line starting at 8,000 BCE to 2,000 CE, representing the Takers’ story. Ishmael notes that the Takers’ culture is a relatively new invention in the broad scheme of the human species, and he asks the narrator about what happened in 8,000 BCE. The narrator says that that is when the agricultural revolution started, but he cannot recall the end of the revolution. Ishmael reveals that the agricultural revolution is an ongoing cornerstone of Taker culture, and it continues around the world to this day.

Ishmael asserts that 2,000 years prior, the Takers adopted a Leaver story about the origins of the Takers as their own. He calls this ironic, since the Leaver story predicts the coming of the Takers, making the Taker narrative a self-fulfilling prophecy.