Earth Abides Sparknotes

Ish’s View of Civilization In the book, Earth Abides, Ish (the protagonist) is facing many problems. With these problems comes different views of things. As the colony is first expanding, Ish believes that the tribe is capable of carrying off his way of civilization but as time passes he realizes that his beliefs may not be as true as he thought they were. As the Tribe is growing up, Ish believes that his tribe is able to carry on his generation’s culture. When Ish brings Joey to the library and Joey asks “If I read the books, could I make them make light again?” (197) it brought light to Ish’s eyes. He realizes that there is a chance to “revive” his generation’s culture. With the kids having the inspiration of learning, the generation could come back and not have to be resolved in a longer way which would most likely not be brought back to Ish’s way. This led to Ish “teaching them to read and write”
One of such is their daily school learning. Ish had begun to teach things such as hunting. “’What is that made of?’ he asked… ‘It is from one of the little round things.’” (310). Ish has now completely lost hope of how he wanted the tribe to be and now moved on to another way he wanted the tribe to live by, survival. Ish wanted to ensure the future of the tribe would be there and safe. Not only did he teach about learning but he also taked about how “’Rifles are good for playthings!’” (310). In this, Ish expresses his switch from his culture and towards the new culture. This shows that Ish has now completely moved on from what he believes. As Ish “wondered what had become of all the others. There must be several hundred people in The Tribe now” (322) he feels as if he chose the right path. After changing Ish thought that he had made the right decision for the tribe. Since Ish feels as if he made the right switch he has now fully switched from losing hope to gaining hope back