A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings - Book Report/Review Example

Your A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings A short story d “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” by Garcia Marquez belongs to his first collection of stories, Leaf Storm, published in 1955. Marquez style of writing is called magical realism. His stories are a skillful combination of reality and imaginary creatures. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a vivid example of grotesque literature. An Old Angel found by Pelayo in his courtyard as well as Spider Woman is imaginary creatures, while the rest of the story can be reality. Everyday life details of the story are elements of realism. The events of the story are set in some coastal village sometime. Unusual guest or visitor with the wings in Pelayo’s yard attracts many people who are willing to come and see the real angel. However, no one is quite sure that the old man is really an angel. The neighboring woman “who knew everything about life and death” claimed that the man was angel. Besides, his strange language and wings on his back were one more prove which lead to conclusion that he is an angel. The man does not wish or is not able to communicate or cooperate with people. Thus, the onlookers lose their interest to the old man with the wings soon. The angle does not meet expectation neither of town’s citizens nor the reader. The very first meeting with the old man and sight of his wings does not have a positive effect neither on Pelayo nor on his wife, Elisenda. Character of the old man of the story can be interpreted as a symbol of a crippled and ugly old age as some people perceive it. The couple is not really happy with what they find in the mud of their yard: His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud. They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar (Marquez). They are surprised to see his wings. However, their interest and confusion does not last for too long. They take the man as if some injured animal and put him in hen’s coop. Furthermore, citizens of the town seem to be frustrated by angel’s lack of activity or almost motionless posture in the coop. the people who came to look at real flesh and blood angel feel frustrated and even aggressively because the angel does not meet their expectation. Their behavior towards the old man is cruel, unfair and impolite. The reader is also baffled by angels’ inactivity. Slowly people leave Pelayo’s yard, because they lose the interest in a strange old men. Rather, their attention is switched to another interesting creature which is Spider Woman. By that time, Pelayo and his wife Elisenda manage to get some money from the onlookers and get rich. However, after public interest is gone, the couple is not interested in the fallen angel either. Even though Marquez’s second title of this short story is A Tale for Children, issues that are raised by the author is this short story are not childish. The fist theme of the story is writer’s measurement of two opposite human feelings such as cruelty and compassion. Marquez sinfully present the degree of human cruelty towards those who are week and dependent. The negative attitude to the old man is exacerbated by his unusual look and strange language which is known to no one. Heartlessness of people from this story is striking: “the most merciful threw stones at him trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing”; or “they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead” (Marquez). Elisenda and Pelayo’s first plan was to set the old man on a raft with provisions and let him sail freely. Such an act is not the most merciful one, because leaving the old almost dieing man alone is rather pitiless. However, when the couple understands that they can profit from showcasing the fallen angel to the audience they chance their plan. When their child gets well, Elisenda and Pelayo do not even think to thank the angel. They simply use the old man to their advantage. Placing the man in a chicken coop outside and leaving at spectators’ mercy is an act of cruelty and absence of any feeling of compassion. They do not even think that the angle could be a reason of their child’s quick recovery. The poor man is rather kept as a domestic animal. He is treated as an old dog which is no longer useful. Only when the man gets much better and grows wings strong enough to fly, Elisenda experience a slight feeling of regret. The fallen angel brings wealth and happiness to the family after all. The fact that the angel helps Pelayo and Elisenda become rich is the physical demonstration of the elements of magic. The state of things in the family at the beginning of the story is quite different from the situation at the end of this tale. The couple is very poor and their child is seriously sick at the beginning. At the end of the story, the family is rich and the crabs no longer invade their house because it is protected by wires. Even though it sounds strange, but the couple also used some iron wires on their windows to protect their house from fallen angels. This short story as well as many other literary works by Marquez contains many symbols which have specific meaning. The first symbol which the reader encounters and which also bewilders the villagers is the wings of the old man. The man looks like one of us, but his wings make him special. They symbolize freedom and power. At the same time, however, the man is too old and he cannot use his wings to fly. Moreover, there are even parasites in the feathers of the wings. The onlookers do not worry about the look of the wings, as they are simply bewildered by the fact itself. Thus, the old man is both real and magical figure. The old man is a human being from the outlook and he looks like an angel because of his wings. While examining the old man’s wings the doctor concluded: What surprised him most, however, was the logic of his wings. They seemed so natural on that completely human organism that he couldn’t understand why other men didn’t have them too (Marquez). Another symbol of the story is the Spider Woman. This creature is embodiment of a faith which is not sincere. The woman who is able to tell her story and who is easily understood gets attention and pity of the villagers sooner than the old man. A man who probably is an angel receives much less attention than a woman who became a spider. Even a priest who is a highly religious person waits for suggestions and advice from the other clergy members who have more power than he himself. Magical realistic story of Marquez is a vivid example of how people often act when they are unable to understand somebody. They simply reject the person. People are unable to see the beauty of life because their expectations are set too high. They do not value the possibility to see and to be close to a real angel, because their faith is not strong enough and they are not sure that what they think he really is. The short story has the purpose of making reader pay greater attention at the world around him and value what he has at this moment. Works Cited Marquez, Garcia Gabriel. “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings: A Tale For Children”. http://salvoblue.homestead.com/wings.html Read More