Corruption/ a Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

1106 Words5 Pages
Corruption We are so cut throat that we are willing to step over a person to get where we want. Humans are selfish, always looking for ways to better themselves. They often overlook the feelings of others when trying to make it to the top. They use the weakness of others to uplift themselves. The story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” By Garcia Marquez shows the many imperfections of society such as cruelty, greed and how easily distracted humans can be. In the beginning of the story an old man as fallen in the back yard of Elisenda and Pelayo. They don’t know what to do so they seek help from their neighbor. The neighbor woman had told them that he was an angel coming for the child and that they should club him to death (Marquez). This is an example of how brutal people can be. Why would you kill this old man who you claimed to be an angel? The couple decided not to do so but instead they held the angel captive in a unsanitary chicken coop while it rained all night and while the chickens plucked at the angels already damaged wings. This is another demonstration of cruelty. The angel wasn’t worthy enough to stay in the house. They stripped the angel of the little dignity he had by locking him up like an animal in a zoo. In the morning the couple had decided to set him free. The morning came and by now the whole town knew about the angel and the couple saw how much attention the angel was receiving. “Elisenda. then got the idea of fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel” (Marquez). They had begun to take advantage of the situation when they began to see dollar signs. At a point in the story the towns people “even the most merciful” threw stones at the angel. “. 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). They didn’t even have the

More about Corruption/ a Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Open Document