Social Battles in Leandra

After finishing Invisible Cities a couple of days ago, I had about a million different thoughts bouncing around in my head in desperate need of organization. Upon reflection however, the book began to make more sense. One of my first realizations was that each city had it's own personality (as many have pointed out already). I agree that each city has a certain human-like identity that separates it from all others and that its identity may be chosen at random while still based on established parameters. Yet i believe that Calvino's descriptions go beyond just people and touch on cultural qualities that he has observed. One of the cities that I found most interesting to read about was Leandra, the home of the Penates and Lares (78-79). The Penates and Lares are described as two different species living together in the houses of Leandra. The first thing I found interesting was the the use of the word "species" since it seemed to imply some large difference between the two groups even though "seeing them all in a row, you are unable to tell them apart" (78). It soon became clear that the distinction was not based on physical differences. Rather it appeared to be based on social standing. The main divergence came over the issue of "the true essence of Leandra" (79).  In this dispute, "the Penates believe they are the city's soul, even if they arrived last year" (79) while the Lares insist that the Penates are nothing more than "temporary guests" (79) in their city. This description reminded me of two things immediately. The first thing I thought of was the various youth movements in the 1960's where young people all over the world protested to have their voices heard in politics. Governments generally brushed the youths off and refused to hear their opinions similar to the way that the Lares viewed the Penates. The second connection I made  to this cultural quality was from The Great Gatsby. Like the Penates who "have to make a place for themselves, rubbing elbows with Lares of illustrious, but decaying palaces", Jay Gatsby tries to mingle with the class of old money social elites. Gatsby makes very little progress, since the elites view him as inferior to themselves despite his immense wealth. Like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Calvino recognizes that certain social gaps are difficult to overcome and may only lead to long quarrels like the counterculture movement in the 60's and or the endless debates between Leandra's two social species.