The Aquatic Uncle

1) Are there any prominent symbols in the story~ what are they and how are they used?

The short story, The Aquatic Uncle, by Italo Calvino creates its own symbols that parallel "modern life". It could be said that the use of the Science behind the "Carboniferous period, abandoned aquatic life for terrestrial" is only a metaphor for a society moving forward in to modernity and leaving behind the old way of life. However, the use of "paws", "tadpoles", great-uncle N'ba N'ga and "edges" can be seen as symbols for other things. The "paws' of the story refer to the terrestrial creatures that have lived on land long enough to develop them and so are a symbol of the highest achievement adapted at this point. The narrator, Qfwfq, speaks of his terrestrial girlfriend's "paws" in a kind of reverence. He has put her on a pedestal as being greater than him because of it. "Tadpoles" symbolize not just an antiquated, undesirable beginning to new life, but immaturity, someone who does not understand the world. This would be found in Qfwfq's embarrassment at everything fish, instead of understanding that the two worlds should embrace each other. Great-uncle N'ba N'ga symbolizes the ages gone by and the idea that what is once considered old will one day become new again, a cycle of ideas and life. This is seen when Qfwfq's terrestrial girlfriend decides to join him and become a fish, because that is where she sees the future. Finally, "edges" symbolize a divide in society and how playing along the edge of an issue can result in falling to one side or the other.

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

I have always been fascinated by my older relatives, their story, life, and anything they have to tell me about "the way things were". I believe it is very important to be knowledgeable about the past in order to insure that bad events do not repeat and to be able to discern when an aspect of the past is needed in the present day society. Youth are often embarrassed by their parents or otherwise older relatives, like Qfwfq is by his great fish uncle. This embarrassment and denial of the past and the fact that they themselves will one day be the past, often blinds them to anything beneficial that they could take from the past to use in the present. For example, Qfwfq realizes too late that if he had made peace with his past and incorporated it into his life then he may not have lost his terrestrial love, Lll, who recognized the importance of the the past. However, Lll takes the other extreme. She does not incorporate the past into her current life either, she lets it replace her current life. There needs to be a give and take balance between the past, present, and future, because ultimately life has a way of repeating itself. 

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

This story would be an interesting picture book, not for children, because they probably wouldn't like the way Lll leaves Qfwfq in the end, but then again picture books do not have to be for children at all. The story is so well written it would have to be followed rather precisely to have the same affect. I imagine illustrations created using woodcut prints or linoleum block prints. This would be very affective in capturing "age", since the story takes place in the Carboniferous period, it would be interesting to use an older form of image making. The prints would be black and white slowly gaining color as the story moves from the water to the land. The story has a humorous tone, so it would be appropriate to not change the characters into humans, but to keep them as fish and terrestrial beings in a human setting. I can already picture a car load of slightly terrestrial fish in a big van on their way to make their once a year visit to the lagoon their great-uncle N'ba N'ga lives in. In the end when Lll swims away with N'ba N'ga, she should be trailing her "color" behind her in a sea of grey to illustrate the meeting of two different worlds.