Does ancestry make up one’s identity? Ancestry can shape who we are if we allow it to. The race we are born with makes an impact because of the way society views us. Our identity is not dependent on ancestry, instead it is dependent upon the way we choose to act upon it; but it definitely relies more on the change we make in the world. In the stories, The Aquatic Uncle and The Dinosaurs, by Italo Calvino, the main character Q demonstrates the two paths he chose to take. Depending on Q’s personality, from strong and confident to weak and narrowminded, the view of Q’s ancestry can change drastically.
In the story , The Aquatic Uncle, Q sees his ancestry as embarrassing, which lowers his self-esteem. Q is living in the “adaptation period” where fish are adapting to survive on land. There is a sense of popularity driven through the community by those who have adapted and most certainly by those who originated on land. Q views his land creature girlfriend, Lll, as an idol: “In her, I saw the perfect definite form, born from the conquest of the land that had emerged; she was the sum of the new boundless possibilities opened” (78). Q is nonetheless ashamed of his ancestry, and most of all his old fashioned Great Uncle N’ba N’ga. Q is loosing touch with who he is. This period gives him alot of pressure to fit in with land creatures who display fascinating capabilities. Q’s experience is similar to that of fitting into school, where those who have the best capabilities, like innovative technologies, are popular. Q is dependent on Lll to integrate the fun into his life with “new boundless opportunities” that he believes he will never gain because of his ancestry. He expresses weakness as he follows and admires everything about Lll; slowly forgetting who he is and the history of his species.
Q’s narrow-mindedness does not allow him to accept the beauty of his ancestry. Q was increasingly ashamed of his Uncle’s “fishiness”, embarrassed to even defend his Uncle’s view of sea creatures and land creatures. He tries to shield Uncle N’ba N’ga away from Lll’s life, but in the end, Lll leaves Q for Uncle N’ba N’ga with the irony that she loves him because he is a fish. Q watches surprisingly as “She surfaced, but she wasn’t alone: the sturdy curved tail of Great Uncle N’ba N’ga rose near hers, and together they cleft the water (81).” From that day on, Q still could not understand Lll’s fascination in Uncle. Uncle N’ba N’ga shows a beautiful side of his ancestry that Q does not see. Q condemns the art of being a fish all along. In the contrary, Lll admires it by learning their style to perfection. Uncle had the true confidence to recognize this beauty, which attracted Lll, despite his age. Instead, Q embraced everything from Lll’s world. He denys the power of his ancestry; oblivious that confidence would have constructed a happy ending.
In the story, The Dinosaurs, Q is a confident creature because of his ancestry. He is the last dinosaur on Earth and he decides to go back to civilization after many years of living in isolation. He realized, soon enough, that his kind is the most feared creatures of all time, but the New Ones’ fears are based on stories that built ridiculous stereotypes for his species. Q displays bravery by fighting back to Zahn, one who challenged him unfairly and gained good results: “From that day on, I was the most respected of all. Even Zahn encouraged me, followed me around to see me give new proofs of my strength” (103). Here, Q’s ancestry makes him proud. They ruled powerfully; dependent on fear. He does not feel a need to gain favor. His kind of ‘fit in’ is to fit in with the New Ones so he would not be recognized as a dinosaur. He has the strength and body type of his ancestors that makes others impress. Q is admired in The Dinosaurs rather than condemned as in The Aquatic Uncle. There are no signs of in-confidence in Q. He embraces his ancestry so much, he furthers protects it from harm.
Q is much more experienced in this story, and because of this he seems to take the place of Uncle N’ba N’ga. The stereotypes placed on the dinosaurs were far from the truth. After much patience, Q finally decides that: “In any case, the real truth about the dinosaurs would never be understood by anyone now; it was a secret I would keep for myself alone” (109). Q worries about protecting his ancestry because he finds no one can ignore stereotypes and understand the life of dinosaurs. He wishes the New Ones would understand that they were neither as frightening nor as foolish, whatever the stories made them sound. Q’s experience with the past gives him confidence to support his species through all types of prejudices. He takes the place of Uncle N’ba N’ga because Uncle also embraces the beauty of his kind through everything.
The two species Q contain both advantages and disadvantages. Q chooses whether to take in the advantages or the disadvantages, or even both. Prejudices is a natural form in society and one must have confidence in their ancestry to ignore the stereotypes. The two personalities of Q can change the attitudes toward the diversity of races in the world.
