An Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

1464 Words6 Pages
Chi Cao Professor Brian Kyser English 1302 6 March 2012 An Analysis of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Gabriel Garcia Marquez has been recognized as one of the most remarkable storytellers of the 20th century. In 1995, he published his first collection of short stories, Leaf Storm, which included “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Gabriel Marquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a short story written for children. He gave it the subtitle of “A Tale For Children.” The story illustrates how human reacts to an appearance of the old man, a symbol of difference, weakness, and dependence. In this story, Marquez achieves a greater “magical realism” through his use of three artistic tools: character, symbol, and theme. First of all, Marquez’ characters revolve around the appearance of one old man. The story begins with the main character Pelayo, a man who lives with his wife and a child. On a rainy day, after killing the crabs and dragging them to the sea, Pelayo finds a very old man with wings lying in the mud in their courtyard. The old man appears to be fully human except his tremendous wings. Frightened, Pelayo and Elisenda gaze at him. Indeed, their reaction is a typical behavior when they are in such a situation. After a state of fear follows a state of curiosity. They try to have a conversation with the stranger but he speaks to them with a different language. Then, they call a woman neighbor who knows everything to come by and help them figure out who he is. After taking a look at the old man, she insists that he is “an angel” and advises them to club the old man to death, but they lack the heart to do it. Her reaction to the man with wings is indeed influenced by what she has been taught. This is a typical example of a religious person. Meanwhile, Pelayo does not know what to do with the man so he locks him in the chicken coop over
Open Document