Q's Characteristics

Q often goes back and forth between prideful arrogance and shame.

Q feels good when he accomplishes things such as winning a fight. By this time in the story of The Dinosaur by Italo Calvino, The species of dinosaurs which Q is has become extinct besides him. Q goes to live with a new species the New Ones. The New Ones do not treat Q fairly. Zahn tries to question or confront Q.

In summary, Q and one of the New Ones named Zahn. They fought over how Q was different from them. Q stood up to him because he was tired of people talking about him in bad ways. So Q challenged Zahn and won the fight and then Q was respected and looked more upon. Q then felt stronger and better.

This summary shows that after Q is prideful about winning the fight and proving to everyone else that he is capable of many things. I think that proving himself to the New Ones is a big step for Q. He is also full of proud because he is more respected now. This is important because as he gets more respect, he might turn more arrogant or will change.

Q is also sometimes shameful. In the story The Aquatic Uncle by Italo Calvino, Q feels embarrassed of his great uncle N’ba N’ga. Meanwhile in the story, Q introduces Lll to his great uncle. Lll is a female that Q likes. N’ba N’ga lives in the water while the others of the family live on the land. Q takes Lll to go meet his great uncle. In the following quote N’ba N’ga and Lll were conversating,

“I thought he would never stop.I huffed impatiently, I tried to interrupt him. But what did saucy Lll do? She encouraged him! ... I could have sunk into the ground from shame.”This quote shows that Q is embarrassed about his great uncle because he still lives in the water. Living in the water in that time was basically considered old school and Q does not like that N’ba N’ga is old school. This is important because he feels even more ashamed introducing him to someone he likes, and who would think his family are some losers including him just because his great uncle is old school.

Q in a few times is ashamed about being a dinosaur (or last dinosaur of his species). By this time into the story, Q’s species have all died out from battles, he is the only dinosaur of his kind left. The New Ones is a new kind of species that arises from somewhere else.  In this quote, one of the New Ones is drinking from a pond and Q drinks water next to her. They spoke for a while,

“...And as one does, when one doesn’t want to be observed, I kept my eyes lowered and coiled my tail, as if to hide it. It was such a strain that when, still smiling, she said good-bye and went on her way.” Also here is another quote, “They gave me a nickname: The Ugly One, because I was different from them, for no other reason.”

This quote shows that Q was embarrassed about being different from the New Ones because he wants to fit in with others, not to be made fun of. When they labeled him as Ugly One he felt even  worse than before because the New Ones are admitting that he is different which is not nice. This is important because Q now feels shameful he does not belong because they are different species.