Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Ishmael and the Narrator's Socratic Dialogue
I believe that Quinn delivers his ethical philosophy through "Socratic dialogue" in order to convey his message in the best possible way. Because the concepts that Ishmael is trying to teach the narrator are rather complex and difficult to understand, by using the questioning techniques that he does, Ishmael is better able to teach the narrator on these concepts. In the novel, had Ishmael simply sat the narrator down and outlined his theories one by one, I do not believe that the narrator would have understood. This form of teaching would also not have allowed the story to have very much dialogue at all. Even further, I do not think that the reader would have understood if his philosophy was taught this way. What makes the book interesting and keeps the reader reading is this Socratic dialogue, the back and forth questioning is very important to the story. Ishmael is much more effective in his use of Socratic dialogue than he would be any other way.
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I agree that the Socratic dialogue is an important aspect to the narration of the concepts being presented. I think that one reason it was important to use Socratic dialogue was because, not only is Ishmael teaching the narrator, but he is teaching the narrator that makes the narrator come to the conclusions himself. This makes the narrator (and the reader) understand the concepts more throroughly due to seeing the thought process that leads to the conclusions. It also allows for the framework of the story to function effectively, because the constant interaction between the two main characters makes the environment in which the ideas are being taught (one teacher, one student) more effective.
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