Q's lack of perspective

The Aquatic Uncle

Q's defining characteristic is that he constantly misunderstands other character. Q always jumps to conclusions, and thinks in his own angle. He thought that just because Uncle N' ba N'ga wasn't on land, he wasn't happy.

“We had made various attempts to get him on land with us, and we went on making them;” (Page 73) and “Uncle, if you only knew how sorry we feel leaving you all alone, at your age, in the midst of all the dampness...” (Page 73)

Q jumps to conclusions that uncle N’ba N’ga needs help just because he is old. Though this shows his kindness and perseverance, he doesn’t stop to notice how his great-uncle truly prefers the waters over the arid lands. Later, Uncle N’ba N’ga even convinces Q’s girlfriend Lll, a fish with fins adapted to land, to marry and live with him. Though Uncle N’ba N’ga makes it extremely clear that he wants nothing to do with the land Q lives on, Q just sticks to what he thinks, and ignores Uncle N’ba N’ga.

"But every time an opportunity occurred, I postponed it, out of embarrassment; knowing the prejudices among which she had been brough up, I hadn't yet dared tell Lll that my great-uncle was a fish." (Page 75)

This shows how self-conscious Q is, and how low of pride he has for himself. Q thinks that because Lll is different from the fish Uncle N'ga N'ba is, Lll would not tolerate his ways of life. Q fears that once Lll meets his old-fashioned great-uncle, she would think otherwise of him. Instead, When Lll meets Uncle N'ba N'ga, she is fascinated of what he has to share, and even sneaks away from Q just to meet him again.

"One of those questions you ask just to make conversation:as if she cared about those rushes!" (Page 76)

Q jumps to the conclusion that Q didn't care the least bit of what Uncle N'ba N'ga had to say just because he was different. Unlike Q, Lll looked at Uncle N'ba N'ga's point of view, and was so impressed of the sea that she left Q for it. Lll showed that she cared about what Q's great-uncle had to say by asking more and more questions, but Q just simply assumed that Lll wasn't interested what his fishy great-uncle had to say.

Qfwfq was too arrogant to see Uncle N'ba N'ga's and Lll's perspective of the sea, and lost his girlfriend because of that.