This excerpt of “The Aquatic Uncle” I found to be the most peculiar. The narrator discusses, what most in the modern world might argue otherwise, the concept of space and modernization. He explains how the world on land is limited and allows only expansion through mechanisms like survival of the fittest. Only the best ideas survive and push the society toward the future. But living in the water, there is more infinite space, with discourages expansion and modernization. It allows for all forms of living, no one direction, so no modernization is necessary. They want the uncle to move up on the land to help move the world forward, but he is stagnant and stubborn, preferring the traditional aquatic life.
The land and sea comparison is an analogy between traditional and progressive society. The narrator is promoting a shared, community-oriented world by which humans work together to move forward. But the uncle, who is set in his ways, prefers the solace of murky isolation. He would much rather hide away in the depths of the water than work tirelessly on advancing society. He looked bleakly at the future with little regard as to how to better it. This excerpt shows a paradigm among many more traditional people, who refuse progressiveness and communal advancement. Each new generation grows more progressive in their willingness to work together, breaking away from traditions that might not work and seeking out new solutions.
