Tag: Project 1 – Fall 2013

After reading

When I read the Aquatic Uncle the themes that I found most interesting were the themes of family and of generations. What I found interesting about the theme of family was that these creatures all made the choice whether or not they wanted to leave their family roots and head to land or whether they wanted to stay and continue living their life underwater, but, even with moving to different parts of their own world, the family still remained close together and makes the effort to see each other. Though the theme piggybacks off the theme of family slightly, I found the theme of generations to be very interesting as well. The reason why I found this interesting was because of the way that the generations interacted with each other, and how the older generation (such as Uncle N’ba N’ga) was less open to change and wanted to keep things the way they were. While, on the other hand, the younger generation was trying to be a catalyst for change by trying to convince their uncle to move and by them choosing to move themselves to this new world that was above the water’s surface. While reading the story the biggest connection that is saw between the story and our own world was the idea of environment. I thought the idea of environment connected most strongly to our own world is because, like in the story, everyone is shaped differently on the environment of which they were raised in and how it plays such a major part in our life.

When reading “The Aquatic Uncle” by Calvino, I was most drawn I the theme of alienation. It is clear that Qfwfq, a young creature of the sea does not want to transform into a land creature. He instead wants to stay as a creature of the sea and live in water. Despite what he believes, he follows the rest of the family to the dry land and learns how to rotate his fins to use as paws. The only fish who stays in the water is Qfwfq’s ungce, N’ba N’ga. In the process he becomes alienated from those around him. His entire family left to go on land without him. This theme of alienation is very prevalent theme in our society today. We can all think of a time in which we have been alienated and relate to N’ba N’ga. Calvino draws from human issues in “The Aquatic Uncle” which enriches the store, making it relatable for readers just by giving emotions to these creatures. I was most surprised by the ending. When reading “The Aquatic Uncle”, I did not expect LII to leave behind everything to go and live with N’ba N’ga in the water. This demonstrates her strength and bravery for her to follow her heart and be with N’ba N’ga. When LII decided to go back to the sea she was told “Why, you’re crazy! Nobody can turn back!”. She was not encouraged to leave her family and friends behind but did so anyway. This was a difficult life changing decision that she had to make. This is another theme that we can relate to. We have all made life changing decisions and understand how difficult it can be.  It is admirable that despite what everyone thought, LII stayed true to her love and left to be with N’ba N’ga. The theme that Calvino uses of alienation and making life-changing decisions resonated the most with me.

Within this story many families were evolving and changing while some refused to change at all. Finding ones place seemed to be a crucial part to this story. At first it seemed like the species that were evolved the most were the ones that were able to completely rely on the land alone. These species laid eggs on land and raised their children in the warmth of the sand and sun while the underdeveloped species still had to live part of their upbringing in the water. The story begins out portraying the thought that being a fish was a bad thing. It is not until the end of the story that it is portrayed that every species and living organism within species wants something different. For some that may entail living on land while for others it could be swimming and being able to completely live under water. At one point in the story Calvino draws attention to volcanoes and the instability of land itself. He suggests that living underwater provides for a more constant existence with a constant food source and a sound habitat to thrive in. As I read this story I was surprised about that fact that water dwellers were looked down upon. I was completely surprised when Lll, the female that grew up completely on land and came from one of the more evolved families, decided to leave her fiancée and live with his great-uncle in the water. I was surprised that she wanted to raise her family especially after that was not the way she was raised. It shows that one should not judge anything before actually experiencing. If Lll had not tried to learn how to breath underwater she never would have realized that the lagoon was where she wanted to raise her own family. I think it stood out that neither living condition was wrong, each was just different.

The theme that interested me the most was the idea of the past generation. This story emphasizes the importance of the older generation and how wiser they are. Calvino and his siblings would always seek the advice of their great uncle, Uncle N’ba N’ga. Whenever they had a reunion he would always criticize them and explain to them why the old way, his way is better. I love this theme because I can reflect this theme with my family. My parents are always telling me how they do things differently than me and how it is better and faster.

The issue that was most evident for me was the concept of love. Calvino fell in love with Ill even though they were very different. They were different creatures that came from very different places. I strongly believe that opposites attract and that is one reason that Calvino fell in love with Ill. Because they are very different, they seek the qualities that they do not have. This is also a reason why in the end Ill ended up with great uncle instead of Calvino. Calvino tried to become more like Ill and she did not want that. She wanted something that was completely different than herself.

I really enjoyed this reading because while it tells a story of evolution. While it is impossible for evolution to occur over a generation, it brings interest to the story. The conversations and interactions between the different creatures are important because in the end they always end up getting advice from the past generation. I believe it is true that the older generation always knows more than the newer generation. They have more experience and are meant to guide others.

The themes of alienation, acceptance, and forgiving interested me the most in the story.  Qfwfq loves living on land, as does the rest of his family.  Their fins were capable of rotating to be used as paws on terrestrial land.  Eventually, the water period was coming to an end because so many creatures decided to make the big move.  One fish, however, decided to stay in the lagoon.  It was Qfwfq’s great uncle, N’ba N’ga.  Every other member of their family had moved to land excluding him, which alienated him from the alternate world everyone else had moved to.  Once a year, Qfwfq’s family would travel down to the lagoon to pay great uncle N’ba N’ga a visit.  He would greet them rudely at first, but eventually would warm up and welcome them back.  Every year, one family member would attempt to convince him to move to the main land and out of the water.  Immediately, he would shut down their proposition and give them reasons why the water is better.  Although great uncle N’ba N’ga was separated from his family and most other modern life, he enjoyed being down their alone.  In addition, his family still accepted him, and appreciated his dedication to the sea.  Qfwfq’s fiancé, Lii, and her family were all practically born and raised on terrestrial land.  He loves her, but was initially scared to introduce her to great uncle N’ba N’ga because he lived in the sea.  When he eventually does, she is not frightened, offended, or embarrassed at all.  In fact, she is deeply curious and intrigued.  Ultimately, she asks to spend more time with great uncle N’ba N’ga, a request that confuses Qfwfq.  Great uncle N’ba N’ga teaches her how to breathe under water and eventually, Lii leaves Qfwfq and goes to live with him in the sea, away from her family and everyone she cares about.  Qfwfq is devastated, but forgives her.  I think an issue that is trying to be addressed in the story is one of peer pressure.  Qfwfq and his family try to pressure great uncle N’ba N’ga into moving to dry land with everyone else.  He believes he does not have to do what everyone else is doing, and that he is happy right where he is.  Great uncle N’ba N’ga is able to stand up for himself and at the end of the day, he is still immensely respected by his family.  Another contemporary issue that is brought up is young women marrying older men with something to offer.  In this case, great uncle N’ba N’ga offers a history and education of the sea that no one else would be able to provide to Lii.  He fascinates her because of his experience and knowledge.  She leaves her perfectly kind, suitable fiancé for someone better.  This is a common occurrence we see in the media every day.  I was very surprised that Lii ended up leaving to go back to the sea and live with great uncle N’ba N’ga.  Qfwfq seemed to really love her and if he didn’t, he would never have introduced her to great uncle N’ba N’ga.  I don’t think that is something Lii ever realized about him.

I felt like a major theme, that maybe does not come full circle till the last page, is the idea of finding your place or finding your way in the world. The creatures are trying to find a new better way to live their life and then there are the few who are comfortable with the safety and familiarity of their life as it is. Qfwfq is searching for something newer and wanting to change and be a land animal; he most likely wants this because that is what is expected of him and that is the only goal he has ever really entertained in his mind. Qfwfq has never even truly considered actually choosing the life that his Uncle N’ba N’ga lives even though in a practical thinking it makes much more sense than living on the ground and trying to become a fully land, air-breathing animal. I believe this theme is the symbolic connection that Calvino is trying to make. Calvino does not make attempts to try and make any way of life seem better than another. He simply points out that the creatures have choices of how they are going to live their lives and points out that people have the ability to choose what they will believe about life. The ending took me by surprise. I thought that Lll was just being nice to N’ba N’ga because she had better social skills than Qfwfq, but she was actually very interested and ended up changing her whole life and beliefs based on her interactions with N’ba N’ga.

Jade Klein

The Aquatic Uncle, by Italo Calvino revolves around a family separated geographically, with some members living on land while others have chosen to stay in the water. Calvino narrates this story through Qfwfq, a youngster in the community who at some point decided to join a group of young fish that “slapped their fins on the muddy banks to see if they would work as paws, as the more talented ones had already discovered.” The choice to make the shift from being an amphibian to a reptile, leaving part of the family behind is a life changing decision. Everyone can relate to a time where they have personally had to make a choice and sometimes that choice can mean leaving behind others that you care about. Family dynamics are interestingly depicted through fish in this story. Qfwfq’s Uncle N’ba N’ga, decided to stay behind and live as an amphibian, unlike the rest of his family. To me, Uncle N’ba N’ga stands out as the individual in the family secure enough to not need to follow the pack, and we can all relate to a family member like that. Change is something that relates to every character in the story, in the case of both Ofwfq and Uncle N’ba N’ga, they are fearful to move and leave their comfort zone. At the end of the story there is only one character brave enough to make a drastic change, despite what people are doing around her. LII leaves behind N’ba N’ga and moves to live in the water. It doesn’t matter if you are a fish or a human, change can be scary but in the end the individual is generally happy because they didn’t follow what others wanted and instead followed their own heart.

In the reading, “The Aquatic Uncle”, I was most interested in this idea of animals having a human quality. It made the reading much more interesting and relatable, every family has a family member like Uncle N’da N’ga.  Qfwfq is a creature at a halfway point.  I believe an issue Cavino is addressing, is that many of times our own hidden insecurities produce prejudices.  Qfwfq was in this middle place where he was okay with being mediocre. However, faced uncertainties with Lll family and preconceived ideas of his uncles lifestyle. He was no longer living the reality his uncle is living and could comprehend why his uncle was still living that way. He was not advanced enough to compete with the more evolved creatures and could not understand why Lll wanted to be more diverse. This lead him to be content in his mediocre life. He lost his significant other, who had been looking for the other half of Qfwfq, which, he no longer identified with. While every character benefitted to the narrative equally giving them a rich value to the story, I was surprised by Uncle and Lll ending up together. It shows that Lll was accommodating  to a different lifestyle and Qfwfq let his insecurities get in the way.

After reading Calvino’s “The Aquatic Uncle”, I was most intrigued by how much a sense of value each character had. In the beginning, Qfwfq was thrilled by the idea of the move from being a water organism to a land organism, but no matter how much he pushed the idea on his great uncle, he never seemed to budge from the older tradition of being a creature of the water.  Qfwfq claims, “It just wasn’t possible to make him accept a reality different from his own.” In my opinion this was true of both characters. They both took pride in their decision to either live on land or in the water and despite their ignorance of what life would be like on the other side, neither of them were willing to change. They both seemed very scared of the idea of change, especially since they each had been living their lives comfortably for so long. I think Calvino was trying to suggest that many people are afraid of change, but that it’s important to stick to what’s important to you. One should not let anyone else persuade them into changing their opinion if they are most comfortable with it and believe it’s right for them. I believe Calvino was telling the audience to honor uniqueness and do whatever the individual thinks is best. At the very end of the story, I was most surprised that Lll ended up changing her ways in deciding to learn how to be a creature of the water, leaving Qfwfq behind. However, I was especially surprised to see that even though he was upset, Qfwfq still stated, “They all had something…that made them somehow superior to me…And yet I wouldn’t have traded placed with any of them.” I liked how even though his life didn’t turn out the way he thought it would, he still was content with who he was.

The Other Half. Qfwfq was caught in translation. He was terrestrial with an aquatic past, but not an extraordinary creature. Lil, on the other hand, was dry hatched and had earthbound roots so far back that her family formed a unique species. These two shaped an interesting dynamic. The partially awkward, unpopular male attracted the beautiful female. The male had a disrupted and embarrassing background, while the female had a powerful family with a legacy of evolutionary conquest. It was a classic love story with the basis for a box office hit. Society was very subdivided within this ecosystem, as the origin of each family, each with a unique evolutionary path, determined the future of the ecosystem. Due to this subdivision, prejudice was very prevalent within societies and families. With that regard, this story can relate to many excerpts of everyday life. The problem with these two lovers was that each sought the life of the other half. Each wished to engage in the rich history of the other family. Lil sought an aquatic adventure and Qfwfq envisioned the conquest of untouched lands. These differences may seem manageable in a human relationship, but I speak of amphibians on the windy road of evolution. Talk about one step forward and two steps back. In the end, the “aquatic uncle” N’ba N’ga unexpectedly steals the heart (and/or breath) of young Lil. I did not see that one coming. One minute N’ba N’ga is teaching Lil how to be a fish, the next minute they want spend the rest of their life together. I think it is interesting that she used him to learn how to swim and/or date his uncle. I suppose, in her search of the other half, Lil was more willing to do whatever she could to reach her goals, whereas Qfwfq was more of a “I’ll reach my goal eventually” kind of guy. Overall, I was captivated by the character dynamic throughout the story and interested in how the societies interact, just disappointed by the abrupt ending.

Jake Flaherty
In reading “The Aquatic Uncle,” I was most interested in the personification of the animals and organisms in the story. Not just the personification, but the family dynamic that exists within these organisms. The bold young fish struggled to get onto the land like little children who are just getting the hang of riding their bike for the first time. The family aspect also exists when the family of fish visits their great uncle N’ba N’ga underwater once a year. What captured my interest to this idea of a family was in the passage: “We went to visit our great uncle once a year, the whole family together. It also gave us an opportunity to have a reunion, since we were scattered all over the continent; we could exchange bits of news, trade edible insects, and discuss old scores that were still unsettled.” Not only does this passage symbolize what a family reunion or holiday looks like in our culture, sharing news, settling old scores and the like, but it also throws in a hint of personification of the fish, as they “trade edible insects.” Rarely are insects traded in a traditional human family reunion, but perhaps this is a cultural norm for the fish. Uncle N’ba N’ga is an interesting character in Calvino’s script, perhaps symbolizing the “crazy uncle” in our families. N’ba N’ga is depicted as crass, rude and stuck in his ways, staying underwater instead of joining his family up on the land. He is not afraid to criticize his family for doing so, asking if they have gotten any warts yet, which was a perceived consequence for living on land for an extended period of time. Whether it is an aunt, uncle, grandfather, or cousin, everyone has someone like that and to the fish there is no exception.

Download “The Aquatic Uncle” reading by clicking here.

 

After reading “The Aquatic Uncle”, please address the questions below in a written response.  Your response should be approximately 300 words.  You are expected to proofread, spellcheck, and revise your writing to ensure the clarity of your ideas.

Several themes emerge in this story; which themes interested you the most?  Why?

There are instances in this story where Calvino seems to draw symbolic connections to issues faced by contemporary humans.  What issues are most evident to you, and what do you think Calvino is trying to suggest about the issues?

What else stood out to you as you read this story?  What surprised you?  What resonated the most with you?  What was most memorable?  Why?

 

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