Italo Calvino's The Aquatic Uncle

Italo Calvino's short story, "The Aquatic Uncle", is very much a commentary on the disconnect between the old and new generations, as well as on majoritarianism. The embodiment of the old generation is N'ba N'ga and of the young generation is Qfwfq. The story uses the phenomenon of biological evolution as a parallel for the way society changes from generation to generation. N'ba N'ga is an old man who refuses to evolved from an aquatic being (fish) into a terrestrial one like the rest of his family. Qfwfq is N'ba N'ga's nephew who grew up in the water but chose to leave the fins, scales, and water behind in favor of paws, smooth skin, and dry land. The two butt heads throughout the story as Qfwfq tries to convince Uncle to join the majority and Uncle stays firmly set to his stubbornness.

N'ba N'ga insists that the old way is the only true way to live and that the move to go on dry land goes against their species nature and reasoning. In contrast, Qfwfq doesn't understand how anyone would want to remain in the water upon discovering the vastness and diversity of land and views N'ba N'ga as outdated. A contemporary example of this conflict is the music taste of an eighty-year-old and a fifteen-year-old. It is very common that upon hearing the fifteen-year-old's music, the eighty-year-old will complain that it is "dumb", "explicit", or "void of meaning". Similarly, the teenager may view the senior's music as "boring", "outdated", and "lame". It is the age old conflict that the way MY generation grew up is superior to any other generation despite the jarring flaws of said generation. The older generation always thinks the way they did things was best and look down on the new generation as naive, entitled, or lazy.

The political concept of Majoritarianism comes into play as N'ba N'ga desperately tries to hold onto the past while the majority of society steps towards the future. Majoritarianism is a political ideology that says the majority of a population is given the right to make decisions affecting the whole society even if there are groups that don't agree with the majority. It is believed that majority rule is inherently democratic and provides a fairer chance for change to be made for the best interests of the population. However, there will always be people that aren't happy with the changes and feel like their opinions are being pushed to the side.

N'ba N'ga is very much a minority in a majoritarian society as he seems to be the only supporter of aquatic life left in the area. His entire family has abandoned him for life on land. His family believes land is the best option for survival and despite N'ba N'ga being a part of the family, he is left to live in isolation because the majority rule won over his old-fashioned opinions. The best part of the story is the fact that Qfwfq's fiance - someone who was born on land and never experienced life in the water - abandoned all that she knows to run off with Qfwfq's uncle to live a new life as a fish. The fact that Qfwfq's fiance was never familiar with the water is what drew her towards it; The mystery of the unfamiliar and a promise of a new beginning were exactly the same reasons N'ba N'ga's family left the water for the land. Her character shows that even the old and new generation can be in agreement and that they're not always disconnected from one another.