Thematic For Old Man With Wings

433 Words2 Pages
The short story a very old man with enormous wings was written by Gabrielle Garcia Marquez to show the many imperfections of society. It details the many moral issues that should be taken to heart till this day. One point that the author demonstrates is the wickedness of greed. The entire story shows how a couple takes advantage of the angel for their own benefit. Caging the angel like a circus animal and having him exhibited as a spectacle for the town. Stripping the angel of his dignity by leaving him in an unsanitary cage filled with chicken, all to embellish their desire to want more and more money. He used this theme to show how cut throat of a society we have become willing to completely step over a person to get where we want to be. The “angel” is continuously is refused his identity for all of the towns people simply, because he does not fit their perception on what an angel “should be”. Just like most things in society, if something does not live up to our expectations then we simply refuse to except it as true or ignore it. This is shown when priest Gonzaga says to the angel “good morning” in Latin and the angel does not understand him “the parish priest had his first suspicions of an impostor when he saw that he did not understand the language of god or know how to greet his minister”. Simply because the angel didn’t act the way the priest expected, he begins to dismiss the thought of him being an angel. The priest even goes as far as belittling the angel’s god given gift of flight by saying “if wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in recognition of angels. Marquez demonstrated how society has developed a case of A.D.D. Society is always looking for the next “new thing”. We barely invest any time on any single topic at a time, always lunging forward to the next “shiny
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