The Aquatic Uncle

1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?

There are many symbols within this story, but the most prominent ones are the land and the sea. Italo Calvino uses the sea to represent the old way, tradition, stability, and safety. In contrast with this, the land represents a new era, exploration, and innovation. These symbols are used to show the divide between these two ways of thinking and the characters represent all of the people who think differently along this line. For example, the great uncle is greatly entrenched in the old ways, Qfwfq has roots in those ways, but he is trying to move with the times and join the new age, and Lll is greatly entrenched in the new ways, but she wants to join the old age.

2. What connections did you make with the story you read? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

The connection I felt almost immediately is with the way the family treated N'ba N'ga. They dismiss his thinking as old and outdated, however, what he says has great weight because they believe him to be wise. It reminded me very much as to how some families treat their grandparents. They feel as though they should respect and listen to everything they say, even if they happen to be incredibly racist and unyielding to change. I also saw a parallel with Lll returning to the sea, the old ways, and society today. It seems as if the young are always yearning for the past. For example, fashion has returned to 90's. There seems to be a want for a revival for how things were done in the past and it reminds me of Lll diving into the water.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make.

This story greatly reminded me of fable or a fairy tale. A story that uses symbols to make connections so that these stories remain relevant after so many years. This fable-like tone causes me to immediately want to adapt this story into a children's story. The story, relationships between the characters and Qfwfq's revelation at the end would remain the same, however, there would be a lot less detail. The illustrations would be very colorful and there would be a clear divide between the sea and the land (blue and red). The creatures of the land would all be warm colors and the sea would be cool. As Lll transitions from a land creature to a sea creature, her color would gradually shift to become cool(every time she goes and meets the uncle). I feel like this would create a way to see the rift forming between Lll and Qfwfq without using a lot of dialogue.