I was thinking about the central theme/law of Ishmael being that you have the right to compete but not to wage war and destroy another competitor. It seems that humans are the only "animals" to do this and it also occured to me that humans are the only "animals" with higher level thinking skills. I wonder if there is a correlation in that.

This also made me wonder if there is a connection between this animal-higher level thinking skills and the fact that Quinn chose a gorilla to play the smart intellectual character in his book.

Jill,
You may not understand this, but I'm going to say it.
Your right. Man is the only human being. We have a mind to think, but we also have a will that drives us. That will is what gives the ability to be competitive, but the mind is what gives the ability to make a decision what to do with the will. (I hope your laughing, now.) I am. Man has the ability to make decisions based on more knowledge. Knowledge of laws, knowledge of experiences (memory), and knowledge of the "what-if".
Animals are insinctive. But we know that the gorilla is a very intelligent creature. Some believe that man evolved from the ape. This is probably why a gorilla was used in Ishmael. IT worked because the gorilla really got our attention. Some of us were upset, some didn't have a clue half way through the story, others thought the story was amusing. Our different perspectives were aroused. The evidence of a successfully written story won't you say. I say, yes. Dr. Turner has a goal for everything she has us read. That's what wonderful teachers are made of. I just not good at so much reading. This is why I buy books on tape.