A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children
By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was published in 1955. This story falls under the genre of magic realism and is a short that is included in the book Leaf Storm. This story is not necessarily a tale for children but a tale for mature readers who can still use their imagination.
The story begins by a husband and wife (Pelayo and Elisenda) finding a very old man with enormous wings in their courtyard one stormy afternoon. They watch the old man with wings as he struggles to get up from the mud. They eventually attempt to communicate with the old man but are unsuccessful because he peaks a different language. Their neighbor then comes and identifies him as an angel that was coming to take their sick child. Not knowing what to do with the, old man with wings, so they lock him up in the chicken coop. Early the next morning the local priest, Father Gonzaga comes to the home to test the old man and determine whether or not he is truly an angel. By the end of that day the rest of the community has received word of the “angel” and they all come to see the old man with wings for themselves. It now becomes the new attraction and Elisenda (the wife) takes advantage of the situation and starts charging five cents for admission to see the old man with wings. Father Gonzaga determines that the man cannot be an angel because he does not understand Latin and has so many mortal characteristics. The family soon becomes rich and builds a mansion with all the money they collected from the crowds that came to see the “captured angel”. After awhile the crowd looses interest after hearing word of a new “attraction”. A girl who had disobeyed her parents had been transformed into a tarantula. Years go by and the angel still continues to be trapped in the chicken coop and is treated very poorly by Pelayo and Elisenda. His health begins to eventually decline almost to the verge where Pelayo and Elisenda think he is going to die. Then one day he begins to grow a few new feathers. He is found roaming around the house and is shooed away by Elisenda as she finds him nothing but an annoying. He eventually begins to attempt to fly. After much effort, he is able to fly away. Elisenda gives a sigh of relief as she watches him fly away into the horizon.
When I first read this story it was probably was the most unclear story that I have read all semester. I think the full meaning of this text isn’t quite clear on the first read because the author didn’t intend to make it a clear interpreted story. The title has in it “a tale for children” but in reality this is not really a tale for children. It is to complex. Although it does have a lot of fairy tail like features in it, a child would loose their interest in it. I chose this text to be interpreted because I think it is a complex story and could be interpreted in many different ways. I almost feel like each time I reread it I think of another interpretation. Also after the discussion in class I realized this story can be interpreted in many different ways.
I still do not have one clear interpretation of the story but I think I have identified some central themes, motifs, and symbolism. SparkNotes.com pointed out a Motif of prosperity. Which was one of my first interpretations of the story. “Pelayo and Elisenda’s newfound prosperity is the physical manifestation of the magic and wonder the old man brings to their lives” (SparkNotes). The story begins with describing how the couple was poor and had swarms of crabs invading their home. And they also had a young son who was very ill. But then the old mans presence brought hundreds of pilgrims who didn’t mind paying a small fee to see this old man with wings. The proceeds then bring Pelayo and Elisenda great wealth. They build a mansion and have more money than they know how to spend. But this remarkable turn in fortune happens gradually and Pelayo and Elisenda don’t really see how remarkable it is. Elisenda even refers to her new home as a “hell full of angels”. A symbol that SparkNotes pointed out as well, is the Spider Woman and how she “represents the fickleness with which many self interested people approach their own faith.” As soon as the villagers heard of the “angel” they flocked to Pelayo’s house, motivated partly by faith but also to see him perform miracles. The old man’s reputation diminishes when he proves capable of performing only minor “consolation miracles”. So instead the spectators then flock to the spider woman, who tells a heart-wrenching story with a clear, easy-to-digest lesson in morality that contrasts sharply with the obscurity of the old man’s existence and purpose. Although no less strange than the winged old man, the spider woman is easier to understand and even pity. The old man, barely conscious in his filthy chicken coop, can’t match her appeal, even though some suspect that he came form the heavens. Garcia Marquez strongly suggests that the pilgrims’ result o-oriented faith isn’t really faith at all.
I think the reader can take these interpretations and relate them to the world around them or to their own lives. Like how we might have something great in our life and we may not even recognize it or acknowledge it instead we might look at is as a nuisance but not until its gone will it possibly be appreciated. I think there is a variety of ways this text can be interpreted and not one single way is necessarily the correct one.
Again I do not think I still have grasped the full interpretation of the story or necessarily the correct one. As still it seems each time I take time to reread it more possibilities of interpretation come up. I think it is ok to have something complex and not quite get the interpretation the first time. I think naturally I should always understand it right away. But I have come to learn it is ok to not. It is also fine to take time to understand it and it is ok to have different interpretations of things.
Citation:
SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 1 Dec. 2010.
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