In Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael, there is a significant vocal presence.  There are three identities present within the character of Ishmael.  James Phelan, in his work Narrative as Rhetoric, he dissects the concept of voice.  The first point he makes is that “voice is as much a social phenomenon as it is an individual one” (Phelan, 44).  This leads to the conclusion that though Ishmael’s voice is only the voice of the character Ishmael, but it includes the author’s “individual” identity as well as the “social phenomenon” (which will be unpacked later). 

Firstly and most apparently, within the voice of Ishmael there is the voice of the actual character.  He has his own personality, emotional ups and downs, and physical struggles that are not necessarily in agreement with the other identities present.  The identities of the author and of what I’m going to call a “social consciousness” are also wrapped into the voice of Ishmael.  The author too has his own personality that is shown in small stylistic ways, such as story unfolding in a way that is pleasing to the author.  The overall identity also present in Ishmael’s voice is that of a social consciousness.  This is the message of the character Ishmael, the author, and the movement.  Readers will recognize the presence of a “social phenomenon” in the voice of Ishmael because it is recognizable through life experiences (Phelan, 45).  I call this social consciousness, because the majority of people in the audience of Ishmael will understand concepts of “saving the planet,” “going green,” and /or “sustainability.”  These concepts come together to become a “social phenomenon,” or to make it more of a person/ identity, “social consciousness.”

All these identities, the character Ishmael, Daniel Quinn, and a social consciousness, are united into one voice through style, through a single entity we call “Ishmael.”