Essay On A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings

Words: 867
Pages: 4

When most people think of angels they think of these magnificent and beautiful human-like creatures with wings, a halo, and somehow are affiliated with religion. In the short story “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, that stereotypical image of an angel is different, in this case the angel is depicted as a very old dirty man with wings. At the beginning of the story it describes that it had been raining for three consecutive days, and that there were so many crabs inside of Pelayo and his wife Elisenda’s that their newborn baby was getting very sick. As Pelayo is throwing out the crabs he sees something in the distance of his courtyard, as he walks up closer he sees that it is an older man that is laying …show more content…
The neighbor lady is convinced that he is an angel that was coming to take their sick son, but the storm was so strong that it knocked him to the ground. Pelayo and Elisenda decide to confine him in a chicken coop. The imprisoned old man begins to attract people and raise questions as to what he actually is, so a local priest by the name of Father Gonzaga is called in to examine if the old man is actually an angel or not. The priest does not believe he is an angel though, due to the fact that when he greets him by saying good morning in Latin which is the “language of God” (Marquez 145) the angel does not understand what he is saying. Despite the fact that the old man is not an angel according the the priest, he still attracts curious people. The old man is treated like a circus animal, so many people come to see him that Elisenda starts charging admission. In return the old man receives acts of cruelty such as stones thrown at him, plucking of his feathers and even being branded, but throughout the entire time the man remains very calm and