The short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is subtitled ‘A Tale for Children’, however; the complicated story line may not likely be understood by a child (319). The story’s theme of magic realism coincides with the lesson the author tries to teach on exploitation.
Although it is not clearly portrayed one could assume, due to the author’s history, that the story takes place in rural Columbia. The small village, close to the sea, had experienced rain for several days, and crabs overrun their streets and homes. The author describes the beach which usually glimmers in the moonlight as ‘a stew of mud and rotten shellfish’ (319). The names of the characters in the tale give another reason to assume the story takes place in Columbia.
Little is known of the homeowners Pelayo and Elisenda; he is a bailiff and she seemingly a housewife. The most we know of them is that they are opportunistic and not kind enough to go out of their way to help the old man out of the mud. Father Gonzaga, the town’s priest was once a wood cutter. He is skeptical of the man they all believe to be an angel, and tries throughout the story to disprove the theory. The most complete description of any character in the story is that of the old man. …show more content…
Their neighbor believed that the old man was an angel of death who had come to take the child, and been knocked off his course due to his sad condition and the tremendous rain that had hit the village. When the child awoke the next morning feeling fine, the couple thought of putting the angel on a raft and leaving him to his ‘fate on the high seas’ (320). When they discovered the courtyard full of onlookers they kept the man captive and the exploitation began with them placing a fence and charging admission. As the story progresses and excitement over the angel diminishes, the family keeps the old man in the chicken coop and their child comes to know the angel as a pet of sorts. The man appears to deteriorate to a point where the family thinks he may pass away, and then one day he begins to grow new feathers and he simply flies away.
The author leaves the story with an unclear ending as to the man’s true nature. Was he an angel? Was he simply a freak of nature? And the exploitation came with no clear consequence as one would think to find in this sort of story. The family treated him poorly and became rich from taking advantage of his misfortune. Their child conquered the illness of his infancy. It seemed as though there were no repercussions for any of their wrongdoings, which lead me to believe that the man was in fact an angel of mercy and not death. Works Cited
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th compact ed, New York: Longman, 2010. 319-324.
Although it is not clearly portrayed one could assume, due to the author’s history, that the story takes place in rural Columbia. The small village, close to the sea, had experienced rain for several days, and crabs overrun their streets and homes. The author describes the beach which usually glimmers in the moonlight as ‘a stew of mud and rotten shellfish’ (319). The names of the characters in the tale give another reason to assume the story takes place in Columbia.
Little is known of the homeowners Pelayo and Elisenda; he is a bailiff and she seemingly a housewife. The most we know of them is that they are opportunistic and not kind enough to go out of their way to help the old man out of the mud. Father Gonzaga, the town’s priest was once a wood cutter. He is skeptical of the man they all believe to be an angel, and tries throughout the story to disprove the theory. The most complete description of any character in the story is that of the old man. …show more content…
Their neighbor believed that the old man was an angel of death who had come to take the child, and been knocked off his course due to his sad condition and the tremendous rain that had hit the village. When the child awoke the next morning feeling fine, the couple thought of putting the angel on a raft and leaving him to his ‘fate on the high seas’ (320). When they discovered the courtyard full of onlookers they kept the man captive and the exploitation began with them placing a fence and charging admission. As the story progresses and excitement over the angel diminishes, the family keeps the old man in the chicken coop and their child comes to know the angel as a pet of sorts. The man appears to deteriorate to a point where the family thinks he may pass away, and then one day he begins to grow new feathers and he simply flies away.
The author leaves the story with an unclear ending as to the man’s true nature. Was he an angel? Was he simply a freak of nature? And the exploitation came with no clear consequence as one would think to find in this sort of story. The family treated him poorly and became rich from taking advantage of his misfortune. Their child conquered the illness of his infancy. It seemed as though there were no repercussions for any of their wrongdoings, which lead me to believe that the man was in fact an angel of mercy and not death. Works Cited
Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 6th compact ed, New York: Longman, 2010. 319-324.