How Does Guterson Present Ishmael.

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How Does Guterson Present Ishmael

   In Chapter four Guterson gives us an insight to the character of Ishmael Chambers. He reflects on the death of Carl Heine and also looks back to his past which is brought on, because he grew up with Carl, "...remebering Carl Heine from highschool. They had both graduated in '42. They had played on the football team together". Guterson presents Ishmael as intelligent, "...five hundred pages about chasing a whale? - but as it turned out, it was entertaining. He read the whole thing in ten sittings in his booth...", yet paranoid about what the islanders think about his amputated arm, "He was keenly aware of his pinned up sleve, and it troubled him because it troubled other people." This suggests that Ishmael is sensitive and understandable, and because his arm bothers other people (and he is fully aware of this), he feels like an outcast within the community. Ishmael is insecure because of his arm, however he does not want any sympathy, "He sensed their need to extend sympathy to him, and this irritated him even more. The arm was a grim enough thing without that, and he felt sure it was entirely discusting". Guterson presents Ishmael as a dissatisfied man, who likes to be alone, "It was not in him to drink beer and shoot pool. His more natural domain was in a high-backed booth near the read or Day's Restaurant on University Way where he sipped coffee and read his history." I believe that one of the reasons why he feels so isolated is because of his experiences at war; none of the other islanders can relate to how he is feeling or what he has been through. After the war Ishmael changed and he is aware of this although he can not prevent it from happening, "His cynicism - a veterans cynicism - was a thing that disturbed him all the time". After the war, Guterson presents Ishmael as a disturbed man as he can not forget the horrendous images he has witnessed, "People appeared enormously foolish to him. He understood that they were only animated cavities full of jelly and strings and liquids". Ishmael has no pity towards the islanders and their ignorance. Guterson presents Ishmael as a good man deep down, "The strange thing was. he wanted to be like everyone. He just couldn't find a way to it", who has the same characteristics as his father. "He loved mankind dearly and with all his heart, but he disliked most human beings... you're the same you know. You're your father's son."          

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   Towards the end of chapter four, Guterson shows just how much of an outsider Ishmael is on the island when he interviews other fisherman for the "Island Reviewer". Ishmael is described as "not being part of  this fraternity of fisherman" because of his arm, and because he is a journalist, yet he gains much respect of the gill-netters because he is a wounded war veteran, "On the other hand, he had the advantage of the prominently wounded and of any veteran whose war years are forever a mystery to the uninitiated. These latter were things that solitary gill-netters could ...

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