I believe that the message of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” was to not fear the unknown. The two main points that support this in the story, are how the town’s people treat the angel lesser than human and the symbolism of the chicken coop.
The chicken coop symbolizes a cage that society puts people who are different in because when we don’t understand something, we fear it. At the end of the story, in paragraphs ten and eleven, the angel’s “job” is done and the son of Pelayo somewhat befriends him. The chicken coop then collapses, which represents the angel’s first stage of freedom. To be set free, you first have to be locked up in some way, which also shows that the chicken coop was a cage.
Pelayo decides to put the angel in the chicken coop, versus the shed, or his home, probably because the man had wings and so do chickens. Chickens were the thing most commonly associated with the angel in Pelayo’s town, and by putting him in a coop with animals who were used for personal gain, the angel starts to receive treatment of that which is lesser than human, let alone, supernatural. …show more content…
People come from all around to see him and throw scraps of food at him, once again, like an animal. In paragraph four, the angel is even compared to an inanimate object, an airplane. The people holding him captive are so unfamiliar and uncaring about this man that they compare him to something that is not even living. Instead of making several attempts to get to know him or finding a way to communicate kindly, the townspeople observe and prod the angel in paragraph
The chicken coop symbolizes a cage that society puts people who are different in because when we don’t understand something, we fear it. At the end of the story, in paragraphs ten and eleven, the angel’s “job” is done and the son of Pelayo somewhat befriends him. The chicken coop then collapses, which represents the angel’s first stage of freedom. To be set free, you first have to be locked up in some way, which also shows that the chicken coop was a cage.
Pelayo decides to put the angel in the chicken coop, versus the shed, or his home, probably because the man had wings and so do chickens. Chickens were the thing most commonly associated with the angel in Pelayo’s town, and by putting him in a coop with animals who were used for personal gain, the angel starts to receive treatment of that which is lesser than human, let alone, supernatural. …show more content…
People come from all around to see him and throw scraps of food at him, once again, like an animal. In paragraph four, the angel is even compared to an inanimate object, an airplane. The people holding him captive are so unfamiliar and uncaring about this man that they compare him to something that is not even living. Instead of making several attempts to get to know him or finding a way to communicate kindly, the townspeople observe and prod the angel in paragraph