A Background In The Bible Sheds New Light

From pre-kindergarten until fifth grade I attended private Jewish day school. In third grade we each received a copy of B'reishet, or in English, Genesis. We translated and studied the text from the first word until the last, this feat took us up into fifth grade. Leaving Jewish day school, I had a pre-determined notion of the Bible and the stories in it.
In Ishmael, the bible and it's stories coarse through the novel and serve as anecdotes to explain the Taker-Leaver relationship. This different interpretation of both the creation story and Cain and Abel took me out of my Jewish day school roots and made me rethink the stories I grew up on.

I found that some of the links he made between the Taker-Leaver relationship and Bible stories to be a bit far fetched. This could be because I have studied the stories incessantly but, I found the whole Cain-agriculture and Abel-Pastoral relationship a bit strained. Although from the story it is clear that Abel sacrificed animals and Cain sacrificed agricultural foods (as shown above in the picture), I did not find this to be enough to back Quinn's claim.The Hebrews continued to be shepherds and live a pastoral life style for hundreds of years, and sacrificing animals were an integral part of the Jewish culture until the second temple was destroyed in 70 C.E.
 I did however, appreciate the name of the Gorilla: Ishmael. The original caretaker of Ishmael  was in fact a Jewish man, and he named him. This name was clearly meaningful and deliberate. I always found that Sarah was unreasonable in kicking out Hagar and Ishmael, and that Abraham never had the guts to stick up to her. This was one part of the bible that awkward irked me. I love that Ishmael was the illegitimate child of Abraham and Hagar, just like the monkey was illegitimate in many senses of the word. As a telepathic gorilla, many would consider inherently, Ishmael to be "illegitimate". As someone who tries to teach a radical theory and change the foundation of the world as we know it, many would call Ishmael illegitimate.
I found this book fascinating. This whole taker-leaver theory in some ways echoed my concerns about our nation and in some way seemed to radical to consider. I did however find that my background knowledge of the book of Genesis not only make the book less confusing but added an additional layer to the book. It allowed me to consider the theory in a new more educated light.