Introduction
Gabriel Garcia’s short tale A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is about a couple named Elisenda and Pelayo who interact with an elderly man in their backyard. The old man had wings, and it was difficult for the couple to communicate with him. After talking with their neighbor, the couple learned that the elderly was an angel sent to heal their sick kid. Due to this and their belief, they placed the youngster in the henhouse whenever their kid got a fever. The next morning, everyone in that community came to see the so-called angel and the story progressed to demonstrate the reality of otherness.
Discussion
Nonetheless, others of the locals, like Father Gonzaga, asserted that the angel was not infallible and pledged that the church’s highest court would assist him in discovering the real truth. Elisenda, an opportunist, decided to charge five cents to every person to get wealthy due to the influx of people from various regions. One day, a Spider-Woman arrived in the hamlet to parade at the carnival, and all the spectators departed. After numerous questions, she persuaded the interested onlookers that her disobedience to her parents converted her into a tarantula. The community’s focus changed from the older man to the Spider Woman as a result of the Spider Woman’s narrative (Alhawamdeh et al. 46).
Elisenda and Pelayo used the money they had saved to construct a home and caution their kid not to visit the chicken coop. Eventually, they disregarded the angel. The couple no longer feared the angel once he became a source of calm in their lives. The child was permitted to come and watch the angel on a regular basis, and subsequently, they let him walk freely around their house, despite Elisenda’s objections. Finally, the elder person flew away in Elisenda’s presence. The entire tale speaks about the locals.
Numerous themes have accompanied the narrative. According to the neighbor lady and the throng, they all think the old man is an angel, but the local priests do not believe them, and he needs more time to consult his church. Village prices are not expected to dispel tales of supernaturalism, mysticism, and eerieness. The elderly’s poor health and confinement were indicative of his anguish. The pair only underlined how they might gain from the elderly by charging the onlookers and did not think about how to assist him. This demonstrates the character of the locals (Moradi and Mohammad 70). They may exploit other people’s weaknesses to improve their own lives and live wonderful lives.
The pair did not value the angle’s recuperative effects on their kid. They are merely emphasizing material concerns. After collecting sufficient finances and locking the doors, they decided to set the guy free. This demonstrates how the citizens of a community will only assist a person for a certain amount of time before releasing them.
The narrative has emphasized several topics. The topic of religious faith is one of the key issues. According to the onlookers and the neighbor lady, the person resembled an angel with several wings. The aged man is thus closer to God than the peasants as if he were an angel. He had to have descended from heaven. Due to the lack of angles in the elderly’s look, the people do not adore him. As a sort of insult, Elisenda and Pelayo imprison the angel in a chicken coop, and the audience that comes to view him does not see him as a divine being but as a show (Farsi and Roghayeh 80). This is a fantastic example of situational irony since the majority of viewers pay to see him due to their religious beliefs.
When the older man offers no explanation for his apparition, the onlookers feel humiliated and turn their attention to another mysterious figure known as the Spider Woman. According to this background, religious beliefs are constantly unstable and only make sense if they align with the ideology that individuals hold.
Moreover, it may imply that individuals will only accept what they desire, regardless of evidence to the contrary. The locals did not trust the elderly man’s miracles of curing the kid because they did not want to accept that he was an angel from heaven. Also, Father Gonzaga’s doubt demonstrates that there is a gap between the religious views of the minute’s teachings and those of church authorities (Foka and Mariia). As the aged man does not speak the language of God, Father Gonzaga disputes with the throng that he is an angel. He cautions the throng by claiming that the man may be the devil’s work. He chooses to refer to the bureaucratic higher church official’s evidence that they will never accept the elderly because he does not meet their celestials or divine criteria.
Conclusion
In conclusion, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings emphasizes various supernatural themes. It emphasizes how individuals may use the weakest members of society to improve themselves. Under this, a chaotic society is born that will only believe in what it desires.
Works Cited
Alhawamdeh, Hussein A., Haitham M. Talafha, and Marwan Jarrah. “Stylistic Narrative of “Otherness”: A Study of Power Relations in John Steinbeck’s “The Murder” and Gabriel García Márquez’s “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” Dirasat, Human and Social Sciences 46.4 (2019).
Farsi, Roghayeh. “Proximization and literature: Marquez’s “a very old man with enormous wings.” Journal of Literary Semantics 47.1 (2018): 67-83.
Foka, Mariia Volodymyrivna. “Implicit Meanings in the Magical Realism Works by G. García Márquez (based on the analysis of the short story and fairy tale” A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”).” The First International Congress on Social Sciences and Humanities” Ukraine-Europe.” 2017.
Moradi, Mohammad. “Investigating similar and distinct manifestations of magical realism in” Heaven” by Bahram Sadeghi and” A very old man with enormous wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.” Comparative Literature Research 5.2 (2017): 49-74.