Summary The next day, the narrator initiates his plan to rescue Ishmael from the carnival. First, he must drive back to the city. On his way there, his car breaks down. Once he gets it to a shop, he withdraws as much cash as he can from all his accounts. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 13Summary and Analysis Part 12: Sections 7-12
Summary Ishmael asks the narrator about chapter two of the Leavers’ story. He tries to get the narrator to think about what world change would look like, which brings him and the narrator to the issue of civilization. Ishmael helps the narrator understand that civilization isn’t the problem, but the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 12: Sections 7-12Summary and Analysis Part 12: Sections 1-6
Summary The narrator approaches the owner of the carnival to see if he’ll sell Ishmael to him. The narrator haggles for a while, convinced he could possibly come up with enough cash to help Ishmael escape his prison. Later that night, he returns to the carnival after it closes to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 12: Sections 1-6Summary and Analysis Part 11
Summary The next day, the narrator and Ishmael resume their talk. Ishmael challenges the narrator to think of why he wants to know the story Leaver cultures enact now that he knows the Takers’ story. At first, the narrator is unable to provide a legitimate answer, but finally he realizes […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 11Summary and Analysis Part 10: Sections 5-9
Summary The narrator checks into a hotel near the carnival where Ishmael is caged to try to figure out what to do next. He returns to the carnival later in the evening and bribes a worker to let him spend some time alone with Ishmael. Ishmael jumps right in where […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 10: Sections 5-9Summary and Analysis Part 10: Sections 1-4
Summary The narrator’s uncle visits and he gets stuck playing host for a couple days. Then the narrator is sidetracked by work and a dental emergency, causing him to miss several days of meetings with Ishmael. The narrator feels certain something bad has happened to Ishmael, and his feelings prove […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 10: Sections 1-4Summary and Analysis Part 9: Sections 12-17
Summary Ishmael has the narrator explain how the Leavers came to formulate these stories about the Takers. The narrator explains that Leavers saw the Takers as being crazy, acting in a way that was totally foreign to them. So, in order to understand why the Takers were invading their land […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 9: Sections 12-17Summary and Analysis Part 9: Sections 9-11
Summary Ishmael pushes the narrator to look more closely at the story of The Fall. If the Takers did not create the story, then who did, he asks the narrator. The narrator can’t remember, and Ishmael tells him it would be the Semites, the ancestors of the Hebrews. Ishmael shows […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 9: Sections 9-11Summary and Analysis Part 9: Sections 1-8
Summary The narrator arrives at Ishmael’s office to find him lounging on some cushions rather than semi-hidden behind the plane of glass that usually divides them. Ishmael begins the conversation by reviewing the timeline of human history. They arrive at the conclusion that the Taker culture took off with the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 9: Sections 1-8Summary and Analysis Part 8: Sections 7-10
Summary Ishmael directs the narrator’s attention to a book he’s left by his chair, The American Heritage Book of Indians, and instructs him to look at the map. Ishmael asks the narrator how Native American populations managed their numbers. The narrator is unsure, so Ishmael compares the situation of Native […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 8: Sections 7-10