Why octopuses?
Last year, one
of my six-year-old students asked me how octopuses reproduce. I had to admit
that I had never thought about that and I had no idea, but I promised to do
some research on the matter. “Aunt
Octopus” is based on the intriguing life cycle of these creatures, while contemplating
the idea of a visionary octopus that would question nature and tradition and
suggest a different organisation of their society in order to prevent their
dramatic deaths. My main character is named Tula after the famous novel
character created by Miguel de Unamuno.
Title: Aunt Octopus
Recommended age group:
Level 4. Secondary students.
List of characters:
Tula (female octopus)
Tula (female octopus)
Lucretia McEvil
(female octopus)
Valentina
(female octopus)
Baby octopuses
Adult octopuses
Myrtle the Turtle
Predators (Sharks, eels, seals,
whales)
Narrator
Main conflict:
Tula’s rebellion against the perceived injustice of the octopus life
cycle.
Settings:
An underwater
cave, the bottom of the sea.
Synopsis:
Tula is born an
orphan in a cave, with many brothers and sisters (up to 150.000). She soon wants
to know what happened to her parents. She is often criticized for her curiosity
and independence. Ordinary octopuses just worry about eating and mating, but
Tula wants to solve the mystery and decides to go on a quest. Far away, she
meets an old and wise turtle who tells her the truth about the octopus life
cycle. Tula rebels against the idea of having to die in order to breed. She resolves
to find a way to reproduce without wasting their lives. Tula goes back to warn
her peers and suggests a social organisation so that no one needs to die unnecessarily.
The other octopuses don’t approve because her idea is against nature and
tradition. Finally, Tula decides not to reproduce herself and fulfil her
maternal instinct taking care of orphans, hoping to turn the next generation
into a wiser and better organised society.
Character objectives:
Tula
|
She wants to learn what happened
to her parents to understand how they could abandon them. Later in the story,
she wants to change the octopus society, so they don’t need to die young.
|
Valentina
|
She is Tula’s best friend. She
loves Tula, but she doesn’t understand her inquisitiveness. She falls in love
and wants to become a mother.
|
Lucretia McEvil
|
She scorns and badmouths Tula.
She wants to prove Tula wrong and have her classed as lunatic and separated
from society.
|
Baby octopuses
|
They attempt to survive amidst
the plankton.
|
Adult octopuses
|
They eat and mate. They criticize
Tula for her revolutionary ideas and consider her to be eccentric and utopian.
|
Myrtle the Turtle
|
She has reached wisdom and inner
peace.
|
Predators
|
They hunt and eat octopuses.
|
Narrator
|
Organisation:
Divide the class
into three main groups: eggs/baby octopuses, adult octopuses and predators. One
student will be the turtle.
Scene breakdown:
Scene 1:
In the cave. The
eggs are about to hatch. The first baby octopuses emerge. Tula is born. She
calls for her mother, but she is not there.
Scene 2:
At the bottom of
the sea. Little octopuses flow away with
plankton. Some of them are easily eaten by predators. Tula, Lucretia and
Valentina survive and grow up together. Tula’s concerns about their parents
grow with her.
Scene 3:
At the bottom of
the sea, some years later. Adult octopuses are eating and mating. Lucretia finds
a twin mate and lays her eggs, whereas Tula
doesn’t seem to fit in. She has a mystery to solve and decides to set
out for a journey in quest of answers.
Scene 4:
Far away in the
ocean. Tula meets Myrtle, an old and wise turtle. Myrtle tells Tula that she
has observed many times the octopus’ life cycle. As with most creatures, the octopus's main purpose in life is to
reproduce. However, if it knew just what was waiting for it soon after, it
might think twice. Both the male and female octopuses die soon after mating.
The male dies a few months afterwards, while female dies shortly after the eggs
hatch. Tula is outraged at the apparent injustice of octopus nature, and
she makes a plan to organise their society in a way that no one needs to die.
Scene 5:
Back at her home
place, at an octopus assembly, Tula tells the other octopuses about her discovery,
and exposes her plan. Her ideas are disregarded by the crowd, in the name of
Nature and Tradition. Tula finds out that Lucretia has already died, leaving
150.000 new orphans. Valentina is scared because she is about to lay her own
eggs alone.
Scene 6:
In the cave.
Tula helps Valentina while her eggs incubate and takes care of the orphans,
deciding to educate, love and protect them, hoping to create a more
collaborative and constructive future society.
Sources:
Image courtesy of my friend Joaquín.