Axlotl-Julio Cortázar

Here's the link-this seems to be a decent english translation (a couple typos).

http://sayberklas.tripod.com/anthology_short_stories_in_english/id32.html

Michelle and I both briefly mentioned this story at the end of class today, having been reminded of it by the short stories we've read recently and the themes we've been talking about in Eating Animals. So, I re-read it tonight (in English) to remind myself, and it really was perfect!

I decided to post it here with a couple of my connections so that everyone who would like to can read it if they want over break. It's pretty short, probably about the same length, maybe a little longer than "A Crossbreed."

We read this story in Spanish last year and compared Cortázar to Borges--I think you'll all see a lot of similarities.

It relates very well to Eating Animals and our discussions so far:

• The guard tells the man he's eating the axlotl with his eyes, but the man says that the axlotl were actually eating him.
• We talked about how much we project onto animals, and this man "was projecting a nonexistent consciousness upon the axlotls"
• The man and the axlotl are clearly worlds different (see picture below), but they are actually very similar. Read the story to see just how similar they actually are :)

It's similar to the sympathies and the relationship to the Lambcat in "A Crossbreed"

It even mentions a couple times a metamorphasis (Kafka!)

I'm sure other people will be able to make plenty more connections.

Hope you enjoy!