AQUATIC UNCLE / EXISTENZ

                                                     LITERARY SPECULATION

Are there any prominent symbols in the story?

If so, what are they and how are they used?

There are several prominent symbols in the "Aquatic Uncle" short story.  The first symbol was land and sea with the land representing modern life and evolution.  The sea symbolized tradition and simplicity.  Another symbol was the difference between generations.  The new generation believes that living on the land is a moving forward into the future, whereas the older generation regards the sea as a stable environment providing security and constancy.  Change for the older generation is sometimes difficult and they feel that it is better to stay with what they know.

What connections did you make with the story?

Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

I connected with this story because I am very close to my family just like the characters were in the story.  I have always listened to my relative's experiences in life and found most of them to be informative and interesting.  I have always felt that it is important to respect my relatives opinions even if I did not agree with them.  The uncle in this story reminds me of one of my uncles.  My uncle speaks his mind, never takes "No" for an answer, and is always right, so he thinks.  Don't get me wrong.  He is a great guy, but sometimes ........!!  This story really expressed the view of what older relatives believe in and how they see life.


What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium?  What medium would you use?  What changes would you make?

I really liked this story.  It was well written and very descriptive.  I would change this story into a short computer-animated film.  A full length movie would be too long for this short story.  I feel that making this story into a short computer- animated film could give it enhanced images, along with texture and even special lighting/shading.  This would make the story really captivating to the audience.  The story was very unique and unusual.  I enjoyed reading it.

Movie:   Existenz (1999)

Existenz is an interesting movie.  It centers around Allegra who is the world's leading designer of virtual reality gaming, but it is her newest game that I find strange and frightening.  The reason for my fear is that a bio-port plugs directly into the lower spine and connects to the game's control pod via umbrycord .  Definitely not for me.  I like gaming, but this is just weird and the worst part is that you can't tell the actual game from reality.

I've watched The Matrix movie and it is somewhat similar with the idea of people who find themselves inside an universe created by virtual reality, but Existenz is much stranger.  As I see it, this movie creates a world where organic and inorganic are not opposite.  They sort of work together. The special effects are great.  I mean really great and I hope that the viewers of this movie have a strong stomach!  People tend to react and interact with new technologies that surround them.  The message that I got from this movie was that games can be very addictive and draw players away from real reality.