Magical Realism

Each of us human is alone in our hearts. It is the only place that we are afraid of letting anybody in. We rarely break through the ultimate solitude, but only to reach out to the miracles beyond our world of living, to find out that the strength of love and hope have not abandoned us. Writing about the spectacularity event of life, Marquez could not help stepping in between the magical world and the reality to tell us a tale about “The handsomest drowned man in the world”- the tale of a coastal village interrupted by a man washed up to the shore.

As one of the most important authors of the Magical Realism movement, Marquez gave his short story all the hallmarks of the genre, as stated by Naomi Lindstrom’s definition found in Twentieth Century Spanish American Literature. The fine line between the magical world and the reality was blurred as the children played with the dead body as if the sign of Death brought no feeling of the uncanny. Even when the villagers found out the dead body on the shore, the reason of his death was not the first thing they concerned. Otherwise, they quickly conjectured a theory about why he weighted more than other man they have ever seen. The ability to keep on growing after death became part of the nature, not the opposite as usual, of certain drowned man. The surprising theory that has shows no grind of day-to-day living was conveyed in a conversational tone. The characters, therefore, quickly carried on with the flow of the story with the acceptance of the supernatural elements blending into their lives without questions.

The dry, emotionally and spiritually barren village, and the villagers as an extension of the village, then encountered inexorable changes. A poetic sense slowly stepped into...

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... story portrait an action oriented series of events, one must conjecture a weak theory.

The story ended with the village throwing the biggest funeral in their entire lives for somebody which is not their blood. They were able to open their hearts, giving him the best family that he could have, and accepting him as the member of the community. Esteban became the ultimate source of inspiration for each of the villagers to become a better man, and to the entire village to have a better sense of community. He is the light that showed them what were forgotten. Ironically, the story points out that it is easier to accept the truth that a stranger tell us than somebody we already know. The fictional village Marquez created is the miniature of our society being made of lacking beliefs in each other, and therefore, having more than enough solitudes for each of its member.