Tuesday, September 28, 2010

response to The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino

        In The Dinosaurs by Italo Calvino, all the dinosaurs except Q are extinct. Dinosaurs ruled the Earth fifty million years ago. Then out of nowhere, the dinosaurs die out. Q is an exception and he notices that a new species is growing up on Earth. Based on the story, I can see that Q is paranoid and dumb.
 "Then the situation changed-I don't have to tell you all the details-and all sorts of trouble began, defeats, errors, doubts, treachery, pestilences. A new population was growing up on the Earth, hostile to us. Thay attacked us on all sides; there was no dealing with them."(97)
Q is paranoid. He thinks that creatures tinier than him are attacking his species. Based on the story's descriptions, the new species seem to be weaker and shorter than Q. It would take a great number of these small creatures that Q describes to be able to subdue him. Even if they attack, they would need to be tall enough to get to his head to kill him. There are no mentions of weapons or humans, so they do not have the technology or aid to hunt a dinosaur.
        Q believes they are invincible, but they aren't according to this quote that follows.
"It was as if the New Ones wanted at the same time to defend themselves, to flee........."(105)
This tells they fear attacks and are perfectly vincible. At the end of the first quote, he says that there was no way to deal with them. This is certainly wrong as many factors can kill life forms. Disease and famine are two common causes. Natural disasters such as asteroid collisions can wipe out whole species. Q obviously hasn't observed what actually killed his kind.
        The dinosaurs were not killed by the small creatures if Earth. A recent article concluded that the only reasonable cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is an asteroid striking the planet. Q should have known something was wrong when there was a massive earthquake and when the planet cools because the sun is blocked out. He lists defeats, errors, etc. as the causes of extinction. These are all wrong and that is why I believe Q is a dumb creature.

No comments:

Post a Comment