Calvino Essay

                                                               Pride and Shame
    Q often goes back and forth between pride and shame. First, we see Q’s reaction to his fiance’s abandonment. “It was a hard blow for me. But, after all, what could I do about it?” Q was greatly looking forward to getting married to Lll, but had his worries about her meeting his uncle, Nba Nga. His fears were nothing compared to what happened later. After meeting with the uncle a few times, Lll decides to live with him and marry him. Q then goes from joy to depression and shame. He cannot believe that Lll chooses a fish’s live with Nba Nga over a reptile’s life with Q.
    Next we see Q after he gets a place in the pack of non-dinosaurs, he has to make a choice on whether to leave the non-dinosaur pack and join his brothers, or stay with the pack and his new brothers. “Now, here in the village, I had achieved a new kind of tranquility and I was sorry to lose it.” This takes place when a Q receives news that there are other dinosaurs, and he is not the last one. He had made a bond of brotherhood with the new pack he was in, but knowing that he still had family somewhere else put a fork in his road of destiny. He had to make a hard choice on who to live with.
    Finally, we see that Q is left alone by the rest of his pack, because they turn their backs on him. “But we have understood that you were not here.” After Q tries to explain that the coming herd is a group of rhinoceroses, not dinosaurs, he is turned away by his pack, feeling more alone than ever from the fact that there are no dinosaurs, and now no pack to stay with.