Characters in Ishmael

The Narrator - It isn't clear what his name is or if his name will ever be given to us. One day while reading the newspaper, he stumbles upon an advertisement that states, "TEACHER seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person." Under the impression that the ad is simply a scam, the narrator travels to the address listed, to an office building, and is stunned to find a gorilla in one of the rooms. He then learns that the gorilla is in fact the teacher in the advertisement and has the ability to communicate with him telepathically. 

Ishmael - The gorilla is named Ishmael and tells the narrator that he came from some area in West Africa. When he was still growing, he was taken to a US zoo where he was held in captivity. Eventually, the zoo sells him to a menagerie and he is given the name Goliath. However, one day he is visited by a middle aged man. This man approaches him and tells him he is in fact not Goliath, and then he leaves. Within a few days, Ishmael falls into a deep sleep after unknowingly drinking from water that was infused with some sort of sedative. When he wakes up, he finds himself in a gazebo and learns that the man took him away from the menagerie and onto his property. The man tells him that he is Ishmael instead of Goliath.

Walter Sokolow - He is the man who took Ishmael out of captivity. Walter is a Jewish merchant whose family had recently been killed in the Holocaust when he first became acquainted with Ishmael. Before he and Ishmael discovered that they could communicate their thoughts to one another, Sokolow would speak to him thinking that he was not being understood. However, Ishmael was able to prove that he actually could understand him, so Sokolow tried to teach Ishmael to speak. They were unsuccessful but realized that Ishmael didn't need to speak for Sokolow to be able to understand him. Sokolow marries sooner or later and has a daughter named Rachel. He then dies in 1985 so Rachel becomes his guardian.