"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Garcia Marquez incorporates the binary of dreams vs reality in attempt to deliver a message to the reader about Latin American culture. Going deeper into the binary of dreams vs reality, this short story is more specifically about human vs creature.
The story begins on a rainy day when Pelayo and Elisenda notice a man with wings laying face down in the mud. Pelayo and his wife believe that it is an angel laying face down in the mud, and eventually the news spreads throughout the town. People from all over come to see the angel, but the crowd loses interest immediately because he doesn't perform any miracles for them, he doesn't communicate with anyone, and he seems pretty lifeless. Growing tired of boredom, the people humiliate the angel by throwing things at him and treating him with no respect. What Marquez is trying to say here is how the people of Latin America have lost faith in religion. In angel is a symbol of heaven, and by the people disrepecting it in such a way, Marquez is referring to the corruption of the church.
Another example of this lost faith is the way Father Gonzaga behaves towards the angel. One would assume that out of all people, a Father would show some respect towards an angel if he came across one. That was not the case in the story because Father Gonzaga sends a letter to Rome asking what to do with this man/creature. Why would a member of the church ever question the sight of an angel? Again, Marquez is making a statement about religious corruption in Latin American culture.
Although there was some debate as to whether or not the angel was really an angel or a human, nobody argues whether or not the girl later in the story was really a creature. This girl shows up near the end of the story with the body of a spider. One day she disobeyed her parents and they had her turned into a spider as punishment. Perhaps this part of the story represents a strict society in Latin American culture when it comes to obedience in the family. Respecting one's elders is the idea that one gets from learning about the story of this girl.
This girl also contributes to the idea of lost faith in the church because at first, everybody in town paid a small fee to see the angel. But once the spider was introduced, the people lost all interest in the angel and wanted to see the spider. The people losing interest in the angel is symbolic of people losing religious faith.
By incorporating the angel and the spider/girl in the short story, Garcia Marquez makes it clear that she is focusing on the binary of dreams vs reality. The people questioned whether or not the angel was really an angel, but they had no doubt that the spider was a creature. These ideas are emphasized by the author because they show how Latin American culture feels about religion.
"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Garcia Marquez incorporates the binary of dreams vs reality in attempt to deliver a message to the reader about Latin American culture. Going deeper into the binary of dreams vs reality, this short story is more specifically about human vs creature.
ReplyDeleteThe story begins on a rainy day when Pelayo and Elisenda notice a man with wings laying face down in the mud. Pelayo and his wife believe that it is an angel laying face down in the mud, and eventually the news spreads throughout the town. People from all over come to see the angel, but the crowd loses interest immediately because he doesn't perform any miracles for them, he doesn't communicate with anyone, and he seems pretty lifeless. Growing tired of boredom, the people humiliate the angel by throwing things at him and treating him with no respect. What Marquez is trying to say here is how the people of Latin America have lost faith in religion. In angel is a symbol of heaven, and by the people disrepecting it in such a way, Marquez is referring to the corruption of the church.
Another example of this lost faith is the way Father Gonzaga behaves towards the angel. One would assume that out of all people, a Father would show some respect towards an angel if he came across one. That was not the case in the story because Father Gonzaga sends a letter to Rome asking what to do with this man/creature. Why would a member of the church ever question the sight of an angel? Again, Marquez is making a statement about religious corruption in Latin American culture.
There is no way of proving whether or not the angel was really an angel or a human, but this doesn't even matter. It may be an angel and it may not be, but regardless, the author is trying to stress how there is faith is lost because nobody is willing to believe that it is an angel. Later in the story, a girl appears in the town with the body of a spider. One day she disobeyed her parents and they had her turned into a spider as punishment. Perhaps this part of the story represents a strict society in Latin American culture when it comes to obedience in the family. Respecting one's elders is the idea that one gets from learning about the story of this girl.
This girl also contributes to the idea of lost faith in the church because at first, everybody in town pays a small fee to see the angel. But once the spider is introduced, the people lose all interest in the angel and want to see the spider. The people losing interest in the angel is symbolic of people losing faith.
By incorporating the angel and the spider/girl in the short story, Garcia Marquez makes it clear that he is focusing on the binary of dreams vs reality. The people question whether or not the angel was really an angel, but they had no doubt that the spider was a creature. These ideas are emphasized by the author because they show how Latin American culture feels about religion.