thesis statement for a very old man with enormous wings

A Summary and Analysis of ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ is a 1968 short story by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014). Like much of his fiction, this story is an example of magic realism (which we’ll say more about below).

Subtitled ‘A Tale for Children’, ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ is about an elderly man with large wings who crashes into the home of a man whose son is ill. The townsfolk gather around to see the man, who some believe is an angel fallen from heaven. Before we offer an analysis of García Márquez’s story, here’s a brief summary of its plot.

Plot summary

The story begins with the titular old man with enormous wings crashing into the muddy yard outside the house of Pelayo, a man who lives with his wife, Elisenda, and their sick son. When the elderly man speaks, it is in a dialect they do not recognise and his accent is that of a sailor’s.

Their female neighbour tells them that the man is an angel who must have been coming for their son, but the incessant rain knocked him off-course. The next day, word spreads, and the whole neighbourhood turns up to take a look at the ‘angel’. By this time, Pelayo has confined the old man to his chicken coop and his son’s fever has abated. They had considered putting the old man on a raft with some food and pushing him out to sea, when their neighbours showed up to see the supposed angel in their midst.

As the day develops, the townsfolk begin to suggest what the fate of this old man should be: one thinks he should become mayor of the world, another reckons he should be made a five-star general, while one thinks he should be ‘put to stud’ so that he could sire a race of superhuman creatures.

The local priest then arrives to inspect the angel, and when the old man doesn’t understand the Latin the priest speaks, Father Gonzaga concludes that the man cannot be a true angel at all. His wings are too filthy, and he lacks the dignity one would expect from an angel. But the townspeople do not believe him, and continue to show up in greater numbers, wanting to see this angel for themselves.

Elisenda, spying an opportunity, decides to charge each of them an admittance fee of five cents if they wish to see the old man with wings. Over the next week, they make a fortune charging people to visit the angel, and their home becomes a site of pilgrimage visited by people with the strangest of afflictions. Speculation continues concerning the ‘angelic’ (or non-angelic) nature of the mysterious old man.

But then a travelling show arrives in town: a woman who was turned into a spider (a tarantula as large as a ram, but with a woman’s head) because she disobeyed her parents. Because the fee to see this ‘act’ is lower than the five cents being charged to see the angel, many townsfolk stop queuing to see the old man with enormous wings and instead go to see the spider-woman, who is also happy to answer all manner of questions about her unusual condition.

Although the queue of people waiting to see the angel disappears as the spider-woman lures away all of the waiting crowd, Pelayo and Elisenda are happy because they can use the money they’ve already made to build a better house. However, the continued presence of the angel in their yard becomes an annoyance to them. Their son spends time with the angel in his chicken coop, and both of them fall ill with chicken pox. They fear that the angel is going to die, but in time he recovers and flies away.

The subtitle which Gabriel García Márquez appended to ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ identifies this short story as ‘a tale for children’, and in many ways, the story might be analysed as a kind of fairy tale. Indeed, its central figure, the old man who may or may not be a genuine angel or some other strange supernatural being, can be viewed as a ‘fairy’ of sorts, whose arrival coincides with the improvement of Pelayo’s son’s health.

Like most good fairy tales, this story also fuses myth or fantasy with more everyday or realistic elements. This combination is also common, however, in works of magic realism : a literary movement with which Gabriel García Márquez was closely associated. In magic realist fiction, we are given a realistic view of the world but there are additional magical elements in the narrative as well.

In ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’, the key magic realist elements are obvious enough: a woman who has been transformed into a giant spider; a man who, angel or otherwise, has wings and is capable of flight.

These two beings are at the heart of the story and its meaning, which is as much about how groups of people respond to unusual elements within a society as it is about the two individuals themselves. Indeed, the old man with his enormous wings is something of a cipher: nobody knows what he thinks about anything because they cannot understand the language he speaks.

His main virtue, we learn, is patience, and he seems content to wait in the chicken coop and does not ask for much from Pelayo and Elisenda (who become very rich from him in a short space of time). The spider-woman, by contrast, was subjected to her supernatural fate because of disobedience – or, to put it another way, because of im patience, in that she wanted to go out to a dance but her parents forbade it, presumably on the grounds that she was too young.

These two special individuals – one very old, the other young; one male, one female; one patient and the other flighty; one capable of flight and the other earthbound – represent polar opposites in many respects. Indeed, whereas the old man is turned into a reluctant circus spectacle by his hosts, the spider-woman arrives as part of a travelling show, and intends to sell her story (as we’d say nowadays) and court public interest.

They also represent very different things. The townsfolk are sceptical of whether the old man is really an angel from heaven, but even after Father Gonzaga tells them outright that the man is no angel, they continue to turn up at the house so they can catch a glimpse of the mysterious figure. The spider-woman clearly has been transformed into an arachnid, as they can see this with their own eyes, but there are no heavenly claims made about her fate.

One question a reader of ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’ might ask is whether the old man’s claims to ‘angelhood’ actually matter: if he is not angelic but merely a strange winged man, does that make him any less of a spectacle worthy of study and speculation? Clearly the ‘freakish’ elements of spider-woman’s affliction are enough in themselves to warrant crowds of people flocking (and paying) to see her.

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"A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings": Study Guide

This story of a fallen angel is a classic example of magical realism

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In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,"  Gabriel Garcia Marquez describes unbelievable events in an earthy, straightforward manner. After a three-day rainstorm, husband and wife Pelayo and Elisenda discover the titular character: a decrepit man whose "huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud." Is he an angel? We’re not sure (but it seems like he might be).

The couple locks the angel in their chicken coop. They also consult two local authorities—a wise neighbor woman and the parish priest, Father Gonzaga—about what to do with their unexpected visitor. Soon, however, news of the angel spreads and curiosity seekers descend upon the town.

Like much of Garcia Marquez’s work, this story is part of a literary genre called "magical realism." As its name implies, magical realism is contemporary fiction whose narrative combines magical or fantastical elements with reality. Many writers of magical realism are of Latin American origin, including Garcia Marquez and Alejo Carpentier.

Plot Summary of ‘A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings’

Although Pelayo and Elisenda make a small fortune by charging five cents admission to see the "angel," their visitor’s fame is short-lived. When it’s revealed that he can’t help the invalids who visit him, another oddity—“a frightful tarantula the size of a ram and with the head of a sad maiden”—soon steals the spotlight.

Once the crowds disperse, Pelayo and Elisenda use their money to build a nice house, and the aged, unsociable angel remains on their estate. Though he seems to grow weaker, he also becomes an inescapable presence for the couple and their young son.

Yet one winter, after a dangerous illness, the angel begins growing fresh feathers on his wings. And one morning, he attempts to fly. From her kitchen, Elisenda watches as the angel tries to lift himself into the air, and keeps watching as he disappears over the sea.

Background and Context for 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings'

Granted, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” does not have the unmistakable grounding in 20th-century history or politics that one finds in Garcia Marquez’s "One Hundred Years of Solitude," "The Autumn of the Patriarch," or "The General in his Labyrinth." But this short story does toy with fantasy and reality in a variety of ways.

For example, the onslaught of crabs that begins the story is a bizarre, improbable occurrence—and yet, crabs are probably abundant in a seaside town like Pelayo and Elisenda’s. And in rather a different vein, the townspeople witness fantastic events, but they react with a credible blend of enthusiasm, superstition and eventual letdown.

Over time, Garcia Marquez distinctive narrative voice—a voice that describes even outlandish events in a straightforward, credulous fashion. This storytelling mode was indebted, in part, to Garcia Marquez’s grandmother. His work is influenced by writers such as Franz Kafka and Jorge Luis Borges, who both conjured fictional worlds where shocking actions and surreal sights are nothing out of the ordinary.

Though it's only a few pages long, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" describes fairly large groups of people in considerable psychological detail. The shifting tastes of the townspeople, and the ideas of local authorities such as Father Gonzaga, are delivered quickly yet precisely. 

There are elements of Pelayo and Elisenda’s life that do not really change, such as the stench that surrounds the angel. These constants cast in sharper relief the important changes in Pelayo and Elisenda’s financial situation and family life.

The Symbolism of the Angel

Throughout "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," Garcia Marquez emphasizes the many unflattering aspects of the angel’s appearance. He mentions parasites on the angel’s wings, the food scraps that the townspeople throw at the angel, and finally the angel’s ungainly attempts at flight, which resemble "the risky flapping of a senile vulture."

Yet the angel is, in a sense, a powerful and inspiring figure. He is still capable of inspiring wildly hopeful fantasies. The angel may be a symbol of fallen or degraded faith or a sign that even less-than-ideal manifestations of religion harbor profound power. Or this atypical angel could be Garcia Marquez’s way of exploring the disparity between legend and reality.

Questions About 'A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings' for Study and Discussion

• Do you think that "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" is a work of magical realism? Are there any conventions of the genre that it doesn’t seem to obey? Is there another genre designation (such as children's literature) that might be more appropriate to this particular Garcia Marquez story?
• What religious message do you think this story is trying to convey? Is religion dead or discredited in the modern world, or does faith persist in unexpected or unconventional forms?
• How would you characterize the community where Garcia Marquez’s story is set? Is there anything about the townspeople’s attitudes that is ambiguous or unclear?
• Why do you think Garcia Marquez used such vivid, gritty descriptions in this story? How do his descriptions affect your impression of the townspeople, and of the angel himself?
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Essays on A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Writing an essay on "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is important for several reasons. First, it allows the writer to explore the themes and symbolism present in the story, such as the nature of faith, the role of the supernatural, and the treatment of outsiders. Additionally, writing an essay on this story can help the writer develop their critical thinking and analytical skills, as they examine the text in depth and form their own interpretations.

When writing an essay on "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," it is important to consider the various elements of the story, such as the characters, setting, and plot. It is also crucial to analyze the symbolism and themes present in the text, and to support any claims or interpretations with evidence from the story. Additionally, it is important to consider the historical and cultural context of the story, as well as the author's background and influences.

Some writing tips for crafting an essay on "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" include:

• Start by reading the story carefully and taking notes on key elements, such as characters, themes, and symbols.
• Formulate a clear thesis statement that outlines the main argument or interpretation of the essay.
• Organize the essay into a coherent structure, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
• Use evidence from the text to support any claims or interpretations, and consider incorporating outside research or scholarly sources to provide additional context.
• Revise and edit the essay to ensure clarity, coherence, and proper grammar and punctuation.

By writing an essay on "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings," the writer can deepen their understanding of the story and its themes, while also honing their critical thinking and writing skills.

What Makes a Good A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Essay Topics

When it comes to choosing a topic for an essay on A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, it's important to select something that is both engaging and thought-provoking. To brainstorm potential topics, consider the themes and symbols present in the story, as well as the characters and their development. Additionally, think about how the story relates to larger societal issues or philosophical questions. A good essay topic should be specific, allowing for in-depth analysis, and should offer a unique perspective on the text.

Best A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Essay Topics

• The symbolism of the old man's wings
• The theme of otherness and acceptance in the story
• The role of religion and faith in the narrative
• The portrayal of human nature and greed in the story
• Magical realism in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
• The significance of the spider woman in the story
• The old man's impact on the family and the town
• The use of irony in the narrative
• The relationship between the old man and the child
• The old man as a symbol of hope and despair
• The impact of the old man's arrival on the town's social dynamics
• The role of the media in the story
• The theme of compassion and empathy in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
• The old man's connection to nature and the environment
• The portrayal of gender roles in the story
• The significance of the old man's departure at the end of the story
• The use of color and imagery in the narrative
• The old man as a representation of the supernatural
• The theme of freedom and captivity in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings
• The old man's impact on the family's belief system

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings Essay Topics Prompts

• Imagine you are the old man with enormous wings. Write a diary entry describing your thoughts and feelings about your experience with the family and the town.
• Create a modern-day adaptation of A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, setting the story in a contemporary context. How would the themes and symbols change in this new setting?
• Write a character analysis of Pelayo and Elisenda, exploring how their attitudes and actions towards the old man evolve throughout the story.
• Consider the significance of the old man's wings as a symbol of freedom and captivity. How does this symbolism contribute to the overall meaning of the story?
• If you were to interview the old man, what questions would you ask him and why? Write a mock interview script, exploring the themes and ideas raised in A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings.

Analysis of Title Character in a Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

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Elisenda and Exploitation in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s a Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

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Human Reaction to The Unknown in "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"

The magical absurdity in a very old man with enormous wings, human imperfection in o'connor and marquez's tales, a story of fate, gratitude, divinity and family in a very old man with enormous winds, the famous feathers.

Gabriel García Márquez

Magic realism, fantasy

Pelayo, Elisenda, The Old Man, Father Gonzaga, The Neighbor, Spider Woman, The Child

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Marquez's "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"

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Works Cited

Marquez, Gabriel Garcia.  "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings ."   North Dakota  State University ,  translated by Gregory

Rabassa,  2007,  https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~cinichol/CreativeWriting/323/MarquezManwithWings.htm .

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Márquez, Gabriel García

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A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

A very old man with enormous wings by gabriel garcia marquez.

Table of Contents

First published in Spanish in 1955 and later included in his 1968 collection of short stories, Leaf Storm and Other Stories, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  It is a work of magical realism , presenting an event from the life of a very old man with wings. He appears in a small town and meets a happy welcome out of th curious public, but eventually faces fear and exploitation. The story has become one of Marquez’s most popular works, translated into many languages and widely studied and analyzed in literature courses around the world. It is often cited as a prime example of magical realism and has influenced numerous writers to follow in Marquez’s footsteps.

Main Events in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• The story begins with the discovery of a very old man with enormous wings who appears in a small town. A couple, Pelayo and Elisenda, finds him in their courtyard, and express their amazement at his appearance.
• The townspeople soon come to know about the presence of the old man, and throng to see him for themselves. They feel fascinated by his wings, but quickly lose interest when they realize that he is unable to communicate with them.
• Meanwhile, a carnival arrives and the old man becomes the main attraction. People pay to see him, and Pelayo and Elisenda start charging admission fees to their courtyard to make money.
• A neighbor woman, who claims to have the power to communicate with angels, comes to see the old man and declares that he is an angel who has come to take their sick child to heaven. However, the old man seems indifferent to the child and does not attempt to fly away.
• As time goes on, the old man becomes increasingly weak and ill. Pelayo and Elisenda stop charging admission fees to their courtyard and consider getting rid of him altogether.
• A spider-woman appears in the town and becomes the new attraction, drawing people away from the old man. The old man is eventually moved to the chicken coop.
• Despite his deteriorating condition, the old man remains a mystery. Some people believe that he is an angel, while others feel convinced that he is a fraud.
• One day, a doctor comes to see the old man and concludes that he is simply a very old man with wings. He recommends that the old man be treated like any other patient and given medicine. However, when Father Gonzaga is consulted, he feels unable to identify and asks the people that he would tell them after consulting authorities in Rome.
• Eventually, the old man regains his strength and flies away, leaving behind only a few feathers. Pelayo and Elisenda are left with mixed emotions, wondering whether the old man was really an angel or not.
• The story ends with the implication that the old man’s appearance was just one of many strange and unexplainable occurrences in the town, suggesting that the line between reality and fantasy is blurry and indistinct.

Literary Devices in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• Allegory : A narrative that uses symbolic characters and events to represent abstract ideas or moral concepts. Example: The old man with wings is an allegory for the struggle between faith and reason.
• Allusion : A reference to a person, place, or event outside of the story that the author expects the reader to recognize. Example: The mention of the “miracles” performed by the Virgin Mary alludes to religious mythology.
• Foreshadowing : A literary device that hints at events or outcomes to come later in the story. Example: The appearance of the angel foreshadows the arrival of other supernatural beings.
• Imagery : Descriptive language that creates a vivid mental picture in the reader’s mind. Example: “His pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away any sense of grandeur he might have had.”
• Irony : A contrast between what is expected and what actually happens. Example: The fact that the townspeople are more interested in seeing the spider woman than the angel they once admired is ironic.
• Metaphor : A comparison between two unlike things without using the words “like” or “as.” Example: The angel is compared to a “huge decrepit hen” in his appearance.
• Mood: The overall emotional tone or atmosphere of a piece of writing. Example: The story creates a somber and mysterious mood through its use of dark, surreal imagery.
• Personification: Giving human qualities to non-human entities. Example: The weather is personified as bad-tempered and vindictive.
• Point of view: The perspective from which a story is told. Example: “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” has been told from a third-person omniscient point of view.
• Satire: The use of humor, irony, or exaggeration to criticize society or human behavior. Example: The portrayal of the townspeople’s greed and obsession with spectacle is satirical.
• Simile: A comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Example: The old man, in the end, is presented as “the feathers of a scarecrow, which looked more like another misfortune of decreptitude.”
• Symbolism: The use of symbols to represent abstract ideas or concepts. Example: The angel’s wings symbolize freedom and divine grace.
• Tone: The author’s attitude towards the subject matter or audience. Example: The story’s tone is both critical and empathetic toward human nature.
• Verisimilitude: The appearance of being true or real within the context of the story. Example: The realistic portrayal of the characters and setting makes the magical elements of the story more believable.
• Irony of situation: A contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually happens in a situation. Example: The fact that the angel is a disappointment to the townspeople despite his supernatural nature is an example of irony of situation.

Characterization in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Major characters:.

• The Old Man with Enormous Wings: The titular character of the story, the old man with enormous wings is a mysterious figure who appears in a small town. He is old and ragged, with enormous wings initially believed to be an angel. He does not speak and seems to be in a weakened state, but he endures the townspeople’s curiosity and exploitation.
• Pelayo: Pelayo is the first person to discover the old man with enormous wings. He and his wife Elisenda initially feel wonder at the old man’s wings and the potential for profit that his presence could bring. However, as the old man becomes more of a burden, Pelayo begins to question his own motives and the old man’s true identity.
• Elisenda: Elisenda is Pelayo’s wife and the other person who discovers the old man with enormous wings. She is initially fascinated by the old man’s wings and the potential for making money by exhibiting him to the townspeople. However, as the old man’s condition deteriorates, Elisenda becomes increasingly conflicted about her own feelings towards him.

Minor Characters:

• The Villagers: The villagers are the townspeople who come to see the old man with enormous wings. They initially feel fascinated by his wings and believe that he is an angel. However, as the novelty wears off, they become bored and indifferent toward him. Some of them even mock, mistreat and torture him.
• Father Gonzaga: Father Gonzaga is the local priest consulted about the old man with enormous wings. He is skeptical of the old man’s identity and does not believe that he is an angel. He sends a letter to the bishop to seek confirmation, but the response is inconclusive.
• The Spider-Woman: The spider-woman is a new attraction who appears in town, drawing people away from the old man with enormous wings. She is described as having the body of a tarantula and the head of a woman. Like the old man, she is a strange and unexplainable presence in the town.
• The Neighbor Woman: The neighbor woman is a local woman who claims to have the power to communicate with angels. She comes to see the old man with enormous wings and declares that he is an angel who has come to take their sick child to heaven. Her pronouncement adds to the confusion and speculation surrounding the old man’s identity.

Writing Style in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s writing style in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” shows magical realism, blending the fantastic and the mundane to create a world that is both familiar and surreal. Vivid imagery and lyrical language convey sensory details and enhance the story’s dreamlike quality, with metaphors and similes creating powerful and evocative descriptions. The language’s rhythm and flow draw the reader in, making for a rich and immersive reading experience. Overall, Marquez’s writing style creates a world that is both strange and familiar, captivating the reader with its wonder and mystery.

Major Themes in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a short story that is rich in themes. Some of the major themes in the story include:

• The Limitations of Human Perception: Throughout the story, Marquez questions the limits of human perception and understanding. For example, when the townspeople first see the old man with wings, they assume he is a fallen angel, but when he fails to live up to their expectations of what an angel should be like, they quickly lose interest. The narrator notes, “Pelayo and Elisenda were happy with fatigue, for in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money and the line of pilgrims waiting their turn to enter still reached beyond the horizon.” This highlights how easily humans can be distracted by superficial things and how they often fail to recognize true value and beauty.
• The Complexities of Human Nature: Marquez explores the multifaceted nature of human beings and the ways in which their desires, fears, and prejudices shape their behavior. For instance, the townspeople’s reactions to the old man with wings vary from curiosity and awe to fear and hostility. Some see him as a miraculous being, while others view him as a threat. This reflects the complexity of human nature and the ways in which people’s perceptions are shaped by their personal experiences and biases.
• The Power of Symbols: Marquez emphasizes the power of symbols and their ability to evoke deep emotions and reactions. The old man’s wings, for instance, represent both beauty and terror, freedom and captivity. The townspeople’s reactions to the wings reveal their underlying beliefs and desires, such as their fascination with the supernatural and their fear of the unknown. This underscores the importance of symbols in shaping human culture and identity.
• The Need for Compassion and Empathy: Marquez suggests that compassion and empathy are essential qualities that can help us connect with others and find meaning in life. While many of the townspeople treat the old man with wings as a spectacle, Pelayo and Elisenda show him kindness and take care of him. Their actions demonstrate the power of compassion and the importance of seeing beyond appearances. As the narrator notes, “They did not have the heart to club him to death.” This highlights the transformative potential of empathy and the capacity of human beings to connect with one another, despite their differences.

Literary Theories and Interpretation of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• Magical Realism: Marquez’s use of magical realism in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” blurs the line between the real and the fantastic, creating a world that is both familiar and surreal. For example, the old man’s wings are a fantastical element that clash with the otherwise realistic setting, but the townspeople’s reactions to them are depicted as commonplace and mundane.
• Symbolism: The old man with enormous wings can be interpreted as a symbol of various things, such as hope, faith, or the unknown. For instance, his wings can be seen as a symbol of freedom and spirituality, but also as a symbol of alienation and otherness.
• Postcolonialism: The story can be interpreted through a postcolonial lens, as it is set in a small Latin American town and depicts the exploitation of a marginalized and exoticized character. For example, the old man can be seen as a representation of indigenous peoples who were colonized and marginalized, while the townspeople can be seen as a representation of the colonizers.
• Existentialism: The story can be analyzed through an existentialist lens, focusing on the human search for meaning and the absurdity of existence. For instance, the townspeople’s reactions to the old man’s presence and their attempts to rationalize his existence can be seen as a reflection of the human need to understand the unknown.
• Feminist Theory: The story can also be analyzed through a feminist lens, as it portrays the exploitation and marginalization of female characters. For example, Elisenda’s treatment of the old man and her desire to profit from his presence can be seen as a reflection of the ways in which women are often forced to use their bodies for financial gain in a patriarchal society.
• Structuralism: The story can be interpreted through a structuralist lens, focusing on the underlying structures and patterns of the narrative. For instance, the recurring motifs of wings and feathers throughout the story can be seen as a reflection of the story’s underlying themes of freedom and captivity, hope and despair.

Essay Questions and Thesis Statements about “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez use magical realism to create a sense of wonder and mystery in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”?

Thesis statement: By blending the fantastic with the mundane, Marquez creates a world that is both familiar and surreal, drawing the reader into a world of wonder and mystery that challenges traditional notions of reality.

• What is the significance of the title “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and how does it relate to the themes of the story?

Thesis statement: The title “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” reflects the story’s exploration of themes such as otherness, faith, and the limitations of organized religion, as well as the power of imagination and the resilience of the human spirit.

• In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” how does Gabriel Garcia Marquez use the character of Elisenda to explore the themes of greed and corruption?

Thesis statement: By depicting Elisenda’s desire for wealth and power and her exploitation of the old man’s wings, Marquez critiques the dangers of greed and the corrupting influence of power, ultimately showing the negative consequences of putting personal gain above compassion and humanity.

• What is the significance of the townspeople’s reactions to the old man’s wings in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”?

Thesis statement: The varying reactions of the townspeople to the old man’s wings reflect the story’s exploration of themes such as faith and doubt, otherness and marginalization, and the complexities of human existence.

• How does Gabriel Garcia Marquez use the setting of the story in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” to convey deeper meaning and symbolism?

Thesis statement: Through the use of vivid imagery and symbolism in the setting of the story, such as the decaying houses and the muddy courtyard, Marquez creates a rich and immersive world that reflects the story’s exploration of themes such as decay, transformation, and resilience.

• In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” how does Gabriel Garcia Marquez use the old man’s wings as a symbol to explore themes of transformation and the power of the miraculous?

Thesis statement: Through the symbolism of the old man’s wings, Marquez explores the themes of transformation and the power of the miraculous to challenge our perceptions of reality and the limits of the human spirit.

Short Questions-Answers “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

• How would you characterize Father Gonzaga? Refer to the text.

In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez portrays Father Gonzaga as a religious figure in the village who holds strong opinions. Upon encountering the old man with wings, he greets him in Latin but dismisses him as an imposter when he responds in his own dialect. Father Gonzaga declares the old man a devil and promises to write to higher religious authorities to determine his case. This demonstrates how ordinary individuals, with a little bit of knowledge, can assume religious authority and offer opinions on topics beyond their understanding, turning to higher authorities when necessary.

• Garcia Marquez’s fiction has been described as magical realism. Comment on the label and his short story.

Magical realism is a literary theory that incorporates magical elements into realistic settings to explore how people react to the fantastical. In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings,” Marquez introduces the magical character of an old man with wings into the real-world setting of a village, sparking public curiosity and debate. Various individuals offer their opinions on the old man’s identity, including Father Gonzaga, who deems him a devil. The villagers’ fascination with the old man’s unusual appearance highlights their interest in the fantastical, even as they continue to go about their daily lives.

• How is the view of the angel in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” a thoroughly modern (or postmodern) one?

The portrayal of the angel in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is thoroughly modern, as Gabriel Garcia Marquez uses the figure to evaluate the public’s reactions. The villagers are focused on their own lives and interests, largely ignoring the old man’s suffering despite his otherworldly appearance. The couple who discovers him, Pelayo and Elisenda, charge pilgrims to see him and accumulate wealth without paying attention to his needs. Their callous attitude toward the old man reflects the modern idea of individualism, where people prioritize their own needs above those of others. The son of Pelayo and Elisenda also recovers, and other miracles occur, further highlighting how the villagers are only interested in the benefits that the old man’s presence brings to them.

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A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Translated by Gregory Rabassa

On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench. The world had been sad since Tuesday. Sea and sky were a single ash-gray thing and the sands of the beach, which on March nights glimmered like powdered light, had become a stew of mud and rotten shellfish. The light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what it was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard. He had to go very close to see that it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, couldn’t get up, impeded by his enormous wings. Frightened by that nightmare, Pelayo ran to get Elisenda, his wife, who was putting compresses on the sick child, and he took her to the rear of the courtyard. They both looked at the fallen body with a mute stupor. He was dressed like a ragpicker. There were only a few faded hairs left on his bald skull and very few teeth in his mouth, and his pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather took away any sense of grandeur he might have had. His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud. They looked at him so long and so closely that Pelayo and Elisenda very soon overcame their surprise and in the end found him familiar. Then they dared speak to him, and he answered in an incomprehensible dialect with a strong sailor’s voice. That was how they skipped over the inconvenience of the wings and quite intelligently concluded that he was a lonely castaway from some foreign ship wrecked by the storm. And yet, they called in a neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death to see him, and all she needed was one look to show them their mistake. “He’s an angel,” she told them. “He must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down.” On the following day everyone knew that a flesh-and-blood angel was held captive in Pelayo’s house. Against the judgment of the wise neighbor woman, for whom angels in those times were the fugitive survivors of a celestial conspiracy, they did not have the heart to club him to death. Pelayo watched over him all afternoon from the kitchen, armed with his bailiff’s club, and before going to bed he dragged him out of the mud and locked him up with the hens in the wire chicken coop. In the middle of the night, when the rain stopped, Pelayo and Elisenda were still killing crabs. A short time afterward the child woke up without a fever and with a desire to eat. Then they felt magnanimous and decided to put the angel on a raft with fresh water and provisions for three days and leave him to his fate on the high seas. But when they went out into the courtyard with the first light of dawn, they found the whole neighborhood in front of the chicken coop having fun with the angel, without the slightest reverence, tossing him things to eat through the openings in the wire as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal. Father Gonzaga arrived before seven o’clock , alarmed at the strange news. By that time onlookers less frivolous than those at dawn had already arrived and they were making all kinds of conjectures concerning the captive’s future. The simplest among them thought that he should be named mayor of the world. Others of sterner mind felt that he should be promoted to the rank of five-star general in order to win all wars. Some visionaries hoped that he could be put to stud in order to implant the earth a race of winged wise men who could take charge of the universe. But Father Gonzaga, before becoming a priest, had been a robust woodcutter. Standing by the wire, he reviewed his catechism in an instant and asked them to open the door so that he could take a close look at that pitiful man who looked more like a huge decrepit hen among the fascinated chickens. He was lying in the corner drying his open wings in the sunlight among the fruit peels and breakfast leftovers that the early risers had thrown him. Alien to the impertinences of the world, he only lifted his antiquarian eyes and murmured something in his dialect when Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin. The parish priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of God or know how to greet His ministers. Then he noticed that seen close up he was much too human: he had an unbearable smell of the outdoors, the back side of his wings was strewn with parasites and his main feathers had been mistreated by terrestrial winds, and nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels. Then he came out of the chicken coop and in a brief sermon warned the curious against the risks of being ingenuous. He reminded them that the devil had the bad habit of making use of carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary. He argued that if wings were not the essential element in determining the different between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels. Nevertheless, he promised to write a letter to his bishop so that the latter would write his primate so that the latter would write to the Supreme Pontiff in order to get the final verdict from the highest courts. His prudence fell on sterile hearts. The news of the captive angel spread with such rapidity that after a few hours the courtyard had the bustle of a marketplace and they had to call in troops with fixed bayonets to disperse the mob that was about to knock the house down. Elisenda, her spine all twisted from sweeping up so much marketplace trash, then got the idea of fencing in the yard and charging five cents admission to see the angel. The curious came from far away. A traveling carnival arrived with a flying acrobat who buzzed over the crowd several times, but no one paid any attention to him because his wings were not those of an angel but, rather, those of a sidereal bat. The most unfortunate invalids on earth came in search of health: a poor woman who since childhood has been counting her heartbeats and had run out of numbers; a Portuguese man who couldn’t sleep because the noise of the stars disturbed him; a sleepwalker who got up at night to undo the things he had done while awake; and many others with less serious ailments. In the midst of that shipwreck disorder that made the earth tremble, Pelayo and Elisenda were happy with fatigue, for in less than a week they had crammed their rooms with money and the line of pilgrims waiting their turn to enter still reached beyond the horizon. The angel was the only one who took no part in his own act. He spent his time trying to get comfortable in his borrowed nest, befuddled by the hellish heat of the oil lamps and sacramental candles that had been placed along the wire. At first they tried to make him eat some mothballs, which, according to the wisdom of the wise neighbor woman, were the food prescribed for angels. But he turned them down, just as he turned down the papal lunches that the pentinents brought him, and they never found out whether it was because he was an angel or because he was an old man that in the end ate nothing but eggplant mush. His only supernatural virtue seemed to be patience. Especially during the first days, when the hens pecked at him, searching for the stellar parasites that proliferated in his wings, and the cripples pulled out feathers to touch their defective parts with, and even the most merciful threw stones at him, trying to get him to rise so they could see him standing. The only time they succeeded in arousing him was when they burned his side with an iron for branding steers, for he had been motionless for so many hours that they thought he was dead. He awoke with a start, ranting in his hermetic language and with tears in his eyes, and he flapped his wings a couple of times, which brought on a whirlwind of chicken dung and lunar dust and a gale of panic that did not seem to be of this world. Although many thought that his reaction had not been one of rage but of pain, from then on they were careful not to annoy him, because the majority understood that his passivity was not that of a hero taking his ease but that of a cataclysm in repose. Father Gonzaga held back the crowd’s frivolity with formulas of maidservant inspiration while awaiting the arrival of a final judgment on the nature of the captive. But the mail from Rome showed no sense of urgency. They spent their time finding out if the prisoner had a navel, if his dialect had any connection with Aramaic, how many times he could fit on the head of a pin, or whether he wasn’t just a Norwegian with wings. Those meager letters might have come and gone until the end of time if a providential event had not put and end to the priest’s tribulations. It so happened that during those days, among so many other carnival attractions, there arrived in the town the traveling show of the woman who had been changed into a spider for having disobeyed her parents. The admission to see her was not only less than the admission to see the angel, but people were permitted to ask her all manner of questions about her absurd state and to examine her up and down so that no one would ever doubt the truth of her horror. She was a frightful tarantula the size of a ram and with the head of a sad maiden. What was most heartrending, however, was not her outlandish shape but the sincere affliction with which she recounted the details of her misfortune. While still practically a child she had sneaked out of her parents’ house to go to a dance, and while she was coming back through the woods after having danced all night without permission, a fearful thunderclap rent the sky in two and through the crack came the lightning bolt of brimstone that changed her into a spider. Her only nourishment came from the meatballs that charitable souls chose to toss into her mouth. A spectacle like that, full of so much human truth and with such a fearful lesson, was bound to defeat without even trying that of a haughty angel who scarcely deigned to look at mortals. Besides, the few miracles attributed to the angel showed a certain mental disorder, like the blind man who didn’t recover his sight but grew three new teeth, or the paralytic who didn’t get to walk but almost won the lottery, and the leper whose sores sprouted sunflowers. Those consolation miracles, which were more like mocking fun, had already ruined the angel’s reputation when the woman who had been changed into a spider finally crushed him completely. That was how Father Gonzaga was cured forever of his insomnia and Pelayo’s courtyard went back to being as empty as during the time it had rained for three days and crabs walked through the bedrooms. The owners of the house had no reason to lament. With the money they saved they built a two-story mansion with balconies and gardens and high netting so that crabs wouldn’t get in during the winter, and with iron bars on the windows so that angels wouldn’t get in. Pelayo also set up a rabbit warren close to town and gave up his job as a bailiff for good, and Elisenda bought some satin pumps with high heels and many dresses of iridescent silk, the kind worn on Sunday by the most desirable women in those times. The chicken coop was the only thing that didn’t receive any attention. If they washed it down with creolin and burned tears of myrrh inside it every so often, it was not in homage to the angel but to drive away the dungheap stench that still hung everywhere like a ghost and was turning the new house into an old one. At first, when the child learned to walk, they were careful that he not get too close to the chicken coop. But then they began to lose their fears and got used to the smell, and before they child got his second teeth he’d gone inside the chicken coop to play, where the wires were falling apart. The angel was no less standoffish with him than with the other mortals, but he tolerated the most ingenious infamies with the patience of a dog who had no illusions. They both came down with the chicken pox at the same time. The doctor who took care of the child couldn’t resist the temptation to listen to the angel’s heart, and he found so much whistling in the heart and so many sounds in his kidneys that it seemed impossible for him to be alive. What surprised him most, however, was the logic of his wings. They seemed so natural on that completely human organism that he couldn’t understand why other men didn’t have them too. When the child began school it had been some time since the sun and rain had caused the collapse of the chicken coop. The angel went dragging himself about here and there like a stray dying man. They would drive him out of the bedroom with a broom and a moment later find him in the kitchen. He seemed to be in so many places at the same time that they grew to think that he’d be duplicated, that he was reproducing himself all through the house, and the exasperated and unhinged Elisenda shouted that it was awful living in that hell full of angels. He could scarcely eat and his antiquarian eyes had also become so foggy that he went about bumping into posts. All he had left were the bare cannulae of his last feathers. Pelayo threw a blanket over him and extended him the charity of letting him sleep in the shed, and only then did they notice that he had a temperature at night, and was delirious with the tongue twisters of an old Norwegian. That was one of the few times they became alarmed, for they thought he was going to die and not even the wise neighbor woman had been able to tell them what to do with dead angels. And yet he not only survived his worst winter, but seemed improved with the first sunny days. He remained motionless for several days in the farthest corner of the courtyard, where no one would see him, and at the beginning of December some large, stiff feathers began to grow on his wings, the feathers of a scarecrow, which looked more like another misfortune of decreptitude. But he must have known the reason for those changes, for he was quite careful that no one should notice them, that no one should hear the sea chanteys that he sometimes sang under the stars. One morning Elisenda was cutting some bunches of onions for lunch when a wind that seemed to come from the high seas blew into the kitchen. Then she went to the window and caught the angel in his first attempts at flight. They were so clumsy that his fingernails opened a furrow in the vegetable patch and he was on the point of knocking the shed down with the ungainly flapping that slipped on the light and couldn’t get a grip on the air. But he did manage to gain altitude. Elisenda let out a sigh of relief, for herself and for him, when she watched him pass over the last houses, holding himself up in some way with the risky flapping of a senile vulture. She kept watching him even when she was through cutting the onions and she kept on watching until it was no longer possible for her to see him, because then he was no longer an annoyance in her life but an imaginary dot on the horizon of the sea.

A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

Gabriel garcía márquez, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

During a nasty storm, Pelayo finds a weak and straggly old man in his courtyard. The man has enormous wings , but he speaks an incomprehensible dialect and looks pathetic, so Pelayo and his wife, Elisenda , assume that the man is a shipwrecked sailor. To confirm their hunch, they ask the seemingly wise old neighbor lady about the man, and she tells them he’s an angel and suggests that they club him to death. Instead, Pelayo imprisons the angel in the chicken coop. Pelayo and Elisenda’s child is sick with a fever, but he begins to improve now that the angel is there.

Word quickly gets out about the angelic old man, and the townspeople gather to satisfy their curiosity and perhaps receive a miracle. They do not know quite what to think. Father Gonzaga , the local priest, arrives to try to solve the mystery, but because the angel is dirty and does not speak Latin (the official “language of God”), Father Gonzaga does not believe him to be a proper angel. He warns the townspeople against “carnival tricks” and writes to the Catholic authorities for advice.

Despite the priest’s warnings, more and more people come to see the angel, and Elisenda has the idea to start charging them admission. The angel is such a popular attraction that he makes Pelayo and Elisenda wealthy. The angel, meanwhile, festers in his own filth. The people gawp at him, taunt him, and pull his feathers, but he only responds with supernatural patience, not once lashing out at them. They even brand him with a hot iron to see if he is still alive. Meanwhile, the church authorities replying to Father Gonzaga are more concerned with superficial questions like how many times the angel might fit on the head of a pin.

Before long, a new attraction arrives in town: “a frightful tarantula the size of a ram and with the head of a sad maiden.” The townspeople find the spider woman more relatable than the old man because she speaks the same language as they do, so she can tell a recognizable and moralistic story about who she is and how she became so odd. Her popularity quickly eclipses the angel, whose odd miracles—helping a blind man grow new teeth, or making sunflowers sprout from a leper’s wounds—are simply not miraculous enough for the townspeople. Father Gonzaga is able to let go of the issue now that the general populace is no longer interested.

By this point, Pelayo and Elisenda have amassed enough money to buy a much bigger house. Pelayo quits his job, and Elisenda buys herself some fancy clothes. The child’s health continues to improve, and he sometimes goes into the chicken coop to play near the angel. A doctor comes, but he also cannot explain the angel’s nature.

The child is now strong enough to go to school. The angel goes “dragging” himself about the house like “a stray dying man,” much to the annoyance of Pelayo and Elisenda. His wings are balding and thin.

As time passes, the old man’s condition improves and his feathers return. One day, Elisenda is cooking in the kitchen and notices him trying to fly. Though his attempts are clumsy, eventually he manages to gain altitude and soars over the horizon. Elisenda lets out a sigh of relief, partly for the angel, but mostly for herself—he is “no longer an annoyance in her life.”

English 003

Friday, october 24, 2008.

• Thesis - A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

Suggestion: Thesis: In "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings" Gabriel Garcia Marquez highlight the nature of human beings and faith by contrasting the communities reactions to both the old man and the spider-woman. You don't need the second sentence in your thesis. Use the second sentence as explanation in body paragraph.

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