A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

The story of A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings is a tale in which a pitiful looking man with wings is found outside of the home of Pelayo and Elisenda. Pelayo sees the man while he is removing crabs from their home and throwing them into the sea. His wife, Elisenda, was caring for their ill, newborn child at the time. Pelayo was frightened and pulled his wife into the courtyard to observe the old man. They believed him to be a castaway, but sought the advice of a neighboring older woman. She immediately identified the man as an angel that had come for their child. This angel was not bright white with beautiful skin and glorious clothing, but a weak and dirty old man. This story is about good and evil existing together and how in the end there can only be good or evil – not both.

Good and Evil Coexisting

Throughout this story Pelayo, Elisenda and their community are depicted as evil committing despicable acts from the beginning. Gabriel Garcia Marquez writes that the couple “did not have the heart to club him to death (p. 590)” when the old woman suggested it, but as a concession they were going to put him out to sea on a raft with only provisions for three days. They only decided not to take this course of action when they realized that they could make money off of him by charging visitors a fee to view him. The village priest did not believe the man was an angel because he did not recognize Latin, the language of God, and “he had an unbearable smell of the outdoors (p. 591). The priest was content to write letters seeking opinions while the man rotted away in the chicken coop the couple was displaying him in.

All of the visitors wanted something from the man. Some wanted to be h...

... middle of paper ...

...as to not kill him. There was not a single act of kindness without want in return bestowed up on the man with the enormous wings from the time he landed in the courtyard until the time he flew away.

Conclusion

As a children’s story, this is heartbreaking. I feel as though there was much more symbolic meaning to the story than I was able to understand, but I can see where it would teach children how our words and deeds affect others. The man with enormous wings was portrayed as very weak and vulnerable. Pelayo and Elisenda were cruel, Father Gonzaga inept and the spectators merciless. You can almost feel the apathy and pain of the man as the story is told. In the end, the man was an angel and the couple was lost to their own greed and selfishness. The angel took flight because eventually either good or evil must prevail and in this case evil was the victor.