Response to Axolotl

Julio Cortazar creates a very interesting contrast between humans and animals in this short story. The comparison the narrator makes between himself as a human and the "larval stage (provided with gills)" of the Mexican salamanders in the story is not one to be taken lightly- Cortazar has a very real purpose for this seemingly inane comparison.

As stated in the line on page 6, "They were not animals," the narrator comes to the realization that his fascination for these strange aquatic creatures was not purely scientific, but mostly a matter of fitting in at a time of one's youth when one feels immense displacement. The setting, Paris, is in stark contrast to the cultural identification which the narrator makes, and having more in common with this strange and alien-like creature is somehow reassuring to the narrator in this piece than his own identification with the other humans around him- such as the security guard, who watches his trans-fixation with curiosity and amusement.

This piece takes a strange and bizarre twist in the last two pages, where the narrator takes on a full embodiment of the creature in its transformation of growth. Yet if the reader retains an open mind and an understanding that this piece is meant to be metaphorical and even surrealistic, then the shocking realization that the narrator is identifying with a lizard becomes more bearable :)