A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings - Essay Example

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings The story begins when the rains have been pounding for three straight days. On a different scenario, Pelayo and Elisenda’s kid are sick due to the reek of the crabs. As the story continues, an old sickly man who has enormous wings is discovered on the shore. As the couple tries to communicate with the angel like old man, his incomprehensible language makes them believe that the old man is a castaway (García, 32). Later on, Pelayo locks the old man in a chicken coop before sending him on a raft the following day to his fate. This was after Father Gonzaga establishes that the man is not an angel since he cannot understand Latin. Additionally, the angel has many mortal characteristics. Later on, the people tend to lose interest in the old man since a different freak rises to fame. The attraction in question is a young woman who at one point disobeyed her parents and by this virtue, she has transformed to become a tarantula (García, 34). Analysis The tale commences with an odd, quasi-allegorical allusion to time and in this case, the author mentions the third consecutive rainy day. There is also the aspect of sadness since Tuesday and various statements tend to conflate time, human emotions and the weather in such a way that it seems both magical and mythical. Additionally, there is also the supernatural aspect where the world seems to behave in a strange manner and this is evident by the swarms of crabs, which are supposed to be killed (García, 42). There is also the afternoon darkness, which seems to be just strange which then foreshadow the peculiar arrival of the ghostly visitor and in this case the Angel. Despite the supernatural setting of this particular story, it does not disturb the character. This is obvious by their reaction to the crabs with an ordinary annoyance. The angle in this case has wings full of mud and his image captures the sublimity balance and crudity, which tends to dominate the entire story. The author brings out the angel as an old and decayed man. The old man is however a weird figure that couples both the holy and profane personality (García, 50). The author generally uses various surreal techniques in describing the story. Marquez narrative language tends to combine both the realistic and the unrealistic aspects. In one instance, Marquez describes Elisenda and Pelayo as being surprised by the appearance of the old man at first but later on, they find the old man as being familiar. However, the author fails to explain to his audience why Elisenda and Pelayo find the old man familiar. Alternatively, the author tends to balance a concern with details, which are realistic and characterization. This kind of technique is mostly common in literatures that are legendary such as the bible whereby some events tend to happen without a casual explanation (García, 67). There is also a lack of causality concern and natural law. Throughout the story, the author uses realistic coexist and miraculous coexists in doing both the language and the image in the story. There is the case of the angel’s speech, which cements magic and realism. In this case, the angel speaks by using a sailor’s dialect, which makes it difficult for people to understand him. Nevertheless, it is not certain that the angel is speaking God’s language. On the other hand, Father Gonzaga is of the idea that the angel is not a heavenly creature and if so, then the angel would be speaking the Catholic Church-Latin official language. To him, the angel is an imposter. No character in the story has the curiosity of learning the angel’s dialect or even communicating with the angel. Instead, they are quick to write off the angel (García, 76). Many other motifs throughout the story convey the same balance including the neighbor woman. In this case, the woman is assured that the angel is truly an angel. He goes further to suggest that clubbing the angle to death would not be the right idea since the angel might have otherworldly power. However, the neighbor woman proposes a ruthless and unseemly end for the angel. Generally, people throughout the story experience the angel differently while others suggest different ideas on how to treat the angel (García, 83). From people’s reaction in the context, it is quite clear that the sullied old man in wings or chicken coop enthralls anybody. Marquez suggests that the general presentation of an object plays a significant role in how people judge it and in this case, he suggests that in case the angel was clean, well dressed in white then folks would venerate him instead of adjudicating him. Additionally, the causal connections between people’s perception and their response are left purposefully vague (García, 90). The author explains how the characters in the context never learn why the woman neighbor would think that the angel is dangerous and recommend for its death. Nor do the characters learn in detail why Elisenda and Pelayo’s baby was healed by the angel or due to the angel’s failure to take the soul of baby away or by simply the illness nature. From the context, ambiguity reigns throughout the story and people tend to interpret events in as much as they never understand them (García, 92). Alternatively, the story defies interpretation attempts in as much as it tends to stage human ability to interpret. In simple terms, the story deals mainly with the facts that and now what it is being interpreted. The story is generally a fairy tale that has minimal interpretations or rather; the story remains a fairy tale regarding interpretation. Themes Some of the common themes in which the author uses in this context include; suffering, supernatural, foreignness, religion and the aspect of old age. The suffering aspect is quite evident through the old man who starts in a bad condition before getting worse. Contrariwise, the paranormal aspect is also evident through the old man. The story brings out the old man as a man with wings, which makes it strange enough. Religious aspect is all over the story and is demonstrated by the neighbor woman who believes that the old man is an angel. Father Gonzaga also brings out the religious element in the story (García, 102). Conversely, the old man who is an angel in this context effectively brings out the old age aspect in the story. The old man also brings the aspect of foreignness in the story with weirdness and strangeness in the community. Work Cited García, Márquez G. Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. , n.d.. Print. Read More